India to develop smaller refineries of 20 MMTPA capacity: Minister
1 min read 30 May 2023, 08:33 PM ISTHardeep Singh Puri said that the refineries would have a major focus on petrochemicals apart from the conventional fuels
PremiumNew Delhi: India will develop several smaller refineries of 20 million metric tonne capacity going ahead, said the union minister for petroleum and natural gas Hardeep Singh Puri.
Addressing the media in the sidelines of IACC-NIC’s first energy summit, the minister said that the refineries would have a major focus on petrochemicals apart from the conventional fuels.
Talking about building more refineries and relation to clean energy, he said: “Refineries will make petrochemicals and green hydrogen. At this time, the refining capacity is around 250 million metric tonnes per annum, we want to increase it to 400 or 450 million metric tonnes per annum. We are looking at large number of 20 million metric tonnes per annum refineries, and not the bigger ones."
Regarding the progress on the ethanol blending front, he said: “We have reached 10 percent blending in June 2022, and our saving on import bill was ₹41,000 crore, benefiting farmers also. We will achieve the target of 20 percent blending by 2025, much before the initial target of 2030. In bio-fuel India is a success story, we are using presidency in G-20 for the bio-fuel alliance."
Against the backdrop of the summit organized by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce North India Council (IACC-NIC), the minister said: “Any collaboration with the US would require a considerable focus on clean energy. India and US are in the process of carving out a new partnership which will not only add strength and intensify existing areas of cooperation but also carve out new areas."
He further said that a major challenge for the government in the energy sector is maintaining availability, affordability, and sustainability.
Sunil Jain, Summit Chair & Chairman, Energy Committee, IACC & Operating partner, Essar Capital Limited, said: “If the world has to achieve, we have to install three times resources from Renewable Energy. India needs 500 billion dollars in the next eight years, i.e. by 2030; we need large storage capacity like nuclear energy. Energy transition calls for a holistic approach, and integration of technology."
Lalit Bhasin, National President, IACC, said that there is preparedness at every level in India.
“We have to address issues such as -- can we move away from traditional sources of energy, ideal time frame for transition, alternative sources of sustainable energy, among others," he said.
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