India creating global model of energy justice, says Pradhan at Future Fuel Summit
By TIOL News Service
NEW DELHI, FEB 16, 2021: INDIA is balancing accessibility and affordability to create a global model of energy justice, said Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Mr Dharmendra Pradhan at the joint inaugural conferences of the 11th World PetroCoal Congress and World Future Fuel Summit on Tuesday.
"India will chart its own strategy and pathway for its green energy transition," he told the participants, as the country looks for innovation to manage its energy demand which is expected to grow at about 3 per cent per year till 2040, compared to the global average of 1 per cent.
The minister said India has taken a number of concrete steps to transition pathways for a low carbon economy, creating its own model of energy justice.
Ensuring access to clean cooking fuel to every household of the country has been a key strategy of the current government for "ending energy poverty," followed by a reduction in vehicular pollution as India leapfrogged from Bharat Stage (BS)-IV to BS-VI emission standards in April, 2020, equivalent to Euro-VI norms.
"India has joined select league of nations having the world's cleanest EURO-VI compliant petrol and diesel," said Mr Pradhan.
An investment of USD 60 billion is also leading to India's aspirations of ‘One Nation, One Gas Grid' and to become a gas-based economy, as pipelines are built, and gas terminals constructed to connect all corners of the country.
Ethanol procurement and ethanol-blending percentage have also increased as the country aims to implement 10 per cent blending by 2022 and 20 per cent by 2025. India also became the third largest importer of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in October, 2020.
Budget 2021-22 launched the National Hydrogen Energy Mission for generating hydrogen from green power sources. The country is working on a pilot project on Blue Hydrogen, Hydrogen Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Green Hydrogen.
"Through technological advancements we are blending hydrogen with CNG for use as transportation fuel well as an industrial input to refineries. Fifty buses in Delhi are plying on this," he pointed.
The minister emphasised that India plans to achieve 40 per cent electricity generation from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.