Centre targets to end diesel use in farms by 2024

By Debjit Chakraborty,

India, the world’s third-biggest energy consumer and a top grower of grains and sugar, targets to end the use of diesel in the farming sector in less than three years.

The nation will focus on renewable fuels to achieve its aim of zero diesel use in agriculture by 2024, according to a government statement. India is working toward energy efficiency measures in potential sectors of the economy, the statement cited Power and Renewable Energy Minister Raj Kumar Singh telling officials during a meet to discuss energy transition goals.

Diesel is the most-popular fuel, accounting for about 40% of India’s petroleum sales. A reduction in its consumption will help the South Asian nation, the third-biggest crude oil buyer that relies on imports for 85% of its needs, to lower its dependence on the overseas market.

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India’s agriculture sector is the second-largest consumer of diesel as farmers use the fuel to pump water, run harvesters and threshers, and transport harvests. The country is the world’s biggest grower of cotton and the second-largest producer of wheat, rice and sugar.

Most Indian refineries are built to maximize production of diesel, which is used from running trucks to charging mobile towers in remote areas. However, oil processors are charting out future plans beyond petroleum fuels as India moves away from fossil fuels to fight climate change.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd., which operates the world’s biggest oil refining complex in western India, plans to replace sales of diesel as well as gasoline with cleaner alternatives. It has pledged to invest billions of dollars in green energy.

India is targeting to set up plants having a capacity to produce 500 gigawatts of power from non-fossil sources by 2030, and is laying dedicated lines to distribute electricity from renewable plants.

“We are working for a new and modern India, which cannot happen without modern power systems,” Singh said.

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