Biofuels policy changed: As the government moves closer to its goal of 20 % ethanol mixed petrol on the market by April 2023

The Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, adopted modifications to the National Policy on Biofuels 2018 on Wednesday. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas issued the ‘National Policy on Biofuels 2018’ on June 4, 2018, superseding the National Policy on Biofuels published by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in 2009.

According to an official statement released after the cabinet meeting, amendments to the National Policy on Biofuels are made due to advances in the development of Biofuels, various choices made in the National Biofuel Coordination Committee (NBCC) meetings to boost biofuel production, recommendations of the Standing Committee, and the decision to progress to introduce Ethanol Blended Petrol with up to 20% ethanol throughout the country from 1 April 2023.

The modified policy aims to allow additional feedstocks for biofuel production and to forward the ethanol blending objective of 20% ethanol in petrol to ESY 2025-26 from 2030.

It aims to encourage biofuel production in the nation through Special Economic Zones (SEZ)/ Export Oriented Units under the Make in India initiative (EoUs). The revised policy also attempts to allow the export of biofuels in certain circumstances.

This idea would also attract and support the development of indigenous technology, paving the path for the ‘Make in India’ campaign and thereby creating more jobs, according to a statement from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.