Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, in the inaugural event of second-generation ethanol plan, set up in the Panipat Refinery and Petrochemical Complex (PRPC) by Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) stated that by April next year, India will start supplying petrol with 20 per cent ethanol at selected petrol pumps. The step is aimed towards cutting oil import dependence and addressing environmental issues.
He further said that the supply will ramp up thereafter and E20 petrol (petrol blended with 20 per cent ethanol) will be supplied throughout by 2025.
India has achieved the target of supplying petrol mixed with 10 per cent ethanol ahead of schedule in June this year. Thus the target of making petrol with 20 per cent ethanol has also been advanced by five years to 2025.
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has built the plant at a cost of over ₹900 crore near the firm's Panipat refinery. It will turn about 2 lakh tonnes of rice straw (parali) annually into around 3 crore litres of ethanol.
PM while inaugurating the plant said, creating an end-use for the agri-crop residue would empower farmers and provide an additional income generation opportunity for them.The project will have zero liquid discharge and through the reduction in the burning of rice straw, the project will contribute to a reduction of greenhouse gases equivalent to about 3 lakh tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per annum.
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