Cabinet approves National Biofuel Policy after slew of amendments

“Since many more feedstocks are being allowed for the 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,” the statement further said.

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the amendments to the National Policy on Biofuels 2018. The amended policy seeks to allow more feedstocks for the production of biofuels and advance the ethanol blending target of 20 percent blending of ethanol in petrol to ESY 2025-26 from 2030.

The new policy further seeks to promote the production of biofuels in the country, under the Make in India program, by units located in Special Economic Zones (SEZ)/ Export Oriented Units (Eos). It further seeks to grant permission for the export of biofuels in specific cases.

With an aim to achieve the targeted goal of 'Make in India' initiated under the leadership of PM Modi, this proposal will also attract and foster developments of indigenous technologies, further paving the way for the ‘Make in India’ drive. This will consequently generate more employment, as said by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas in a statement.

“Since many more feedstocks are being allowed for the 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,” the statement further said.

The ‘National Policy on Biofuels 2018’ was notified by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on 4th June 2018, in the supersession of the National Policy on Biofuels, promulgated through the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy in 2009.