Question : Biofuel Policy, 2018

(a) whether the Government has introduced the new Biofuel Policy in 2018;
(b) the details of the Letters of Intent obtained in furtherance of the Policy to
manufacture biofuels, categorised by type of biofuel;
(c) whether the Government is on track to achieve the target of ethanol blended
petrol as mentioned in the Biofuel Policy, 2018 and if not, the reasons therefor;
(d) the details of the budget allocated for implementing the Biofuel Policy 2018,
and the amount expended till now, State-wise; and
(e) whether the rules to be formulated under the Policy are in the final stage of
drafting, and if not, the reasons therefor?

MINISTER OF PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS
(SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)
(a) to (c): The Government has notified the National Policy on Biofuels-2018 on
4th June 2018. This policy has laid out indicative targets of achieving 20%
blending of ethanol in petrol and 5% blending of biodiesel in diesel in the whole
country by 2030.
The Government is promoting biofuels with the broader objectives of reducing
import dependency, generating employment, providing better remuneration to
farmers, promoting better waste management practices, etc. The procurement of
ethanol under the ethanol blended petrol (EBP) programme has increased from 38
crore litre during ethanol supply year (ESY) (1st December to 30th November)
2013-14 to almost five times to 188.6 crore litre during ESY 2018-19.
In the ESY 2019-20, till 07.09.2020, the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have
released Letter of Intents (LoIs) for procurement of 205.92 crore litre of ethanol.
For promotion of biodiesel, Used Cooking Oil (UCO) has been identified as a
potential raw material for biodiesel production and public sector oil marketing
companies (OMCs) have floated an Expression of Interest (EoI) for procurement
of Biodiesel produced from UCO across 200 locations. Till 10.09.2020, OMCs
have issued LoIs for 22 plants having total production capacity of 522 Tons Per
Day (TPD) of UCO based Biodiesel.
With a view to promote the use of Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) as automotive fuel,
Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiative
has been launched on 01.10.2018 under which OMCs are inviting Expression of
Interest (EoI) from potential entrepreneurs to produce CBG. OMCs have issued
556 LoIs as on 31.08.2020 to entrepreneurs for production and supply of CBG
under SATAT initiative.
(d): In March, 2019, Government has notified the “Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN (Jaiv
Indhan- Vatavaran Anukool fasal awashesh Nivaran) Yojana” for providing
financial support to integrated bio-ethanol projects for setting up second
generation (2G) ethanol projects in the country using lignocellulosic biomass and
other renewable feedstock. The total financial outlay for the scheme is Rs. 1969.50
crore for the period 2018-19 to 2023-24.
(e): The biofuel policy comprehensively covers various aspects of biofuel program
including strategy and approach, interventions and enabling mechanism, role of
stake holders, institutional mechanism, international cooperation, etc. At this
stage, there is no proposal to formulate rules.
******