Cabinet approves amendments to National Biofuel policy

Here are the main amendments approved to the National Policy on Biofuels of 2018

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Wednesday approved amendments to the National Policy on Biofuels advancing the target of 20 per cent ethanol-petrol blending by five years to 2025.

The main amendments approved to the National Policy on Biofuels of 2018 are:

-Allowing more feedstocks for production of biofuels,
-Advancement of the target of 20 per cent blending of ethanol in petrol to ESY 2025-26 from 2030,
-Promotion of the production of biofuels in the country, under the Make in India programme, by units located in Special Economic Zones (SEZ)/ Export Oriented Units (EoUs),
-Granting permission for the export of biofuels in specific cases.

The proposal is likely to foster developments of indigenous technologies which will pave the way for the Make in India drive and thereby generate more employment, a petroleum ministry statement said.

The existing National Policy on Biofuels came up in 2018. This amendment proposal will lead to a reduction in the import of petroleum products by the generation of more and more biofuels.

Since many more feedstocks are being allowed for production of biofuels, this will promote the Atmanirbhar Bharat and give an impetus to Prime Minister’s vision of India becoming 'energy independent' by 2047, said the statement.