All India launch of 5% ethanol blended petrol programme held at Hyderabad

The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Dr.YSR Reddy formally announced the nationwide launch of 5 per cent Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme at Hyderabad today. Shri Murli Deora, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas presided over the function which was also attended by several dignitaries including Union Minister of Urban Development Shri S. Jaipal Reddy and Minister State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Dinsha Patel, among others.

This initiative is part of the UPA Government's commitment to put in place policies to enhance the country's energy security. The launch of the programme marks a significant step in the direction of utilizing alternative renewable and environment friendly sources of energy like ethanol, to supplement the hydro-carbon resources of the country. The EBP Programme of the Ministry of Petroleum and Ntural Gas is primarily based on indigenously produced ethanol from sugarcane molasses which besides augmenting fuel availability in the country, also helps sugarcane growing farmers with better returns. Ethanol is further environment friendly as it enhances combustion of petrol resulting in lower emission of pollutants.

To implement the programme nationwide, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had earlier notified 20 States and 4 Union Territories to implement EBP Programme with effect from 1.11.2006 leaving aside J&K, North East Sikkim, Andaman& nicobar and Lakshadweep where ethanol cannot be made available for logistic reasons.. So far, tenders to procure Ethanol from indigenous producers have been finalized in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Jharkhand, Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. The state of Andhra Pradesh has been covered first time. EBP is being supplied in Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamilnadu. It is expected that EBP supplies would commence in Bihar and Jharkhand shortly.

On this occasion, Andhra CM also laid foundation stone of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Saroor Nagar (Hyderabad) Mega Station of Bhagyanagar Gas Limited (BGL), a joint venture of HPCL and GAIL. Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is a clean and eco-friendly fuel being promoted by Government of India, as an alternate fuel for vehicles. CNG is ideal for use by public transport vehicles in major cities and towns. When used as an auto fuel, CNG brings several benefits which include the advantage of removing the chances of adulteration, reduction in vehicle emissions and pollutants like sulphur, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, benzene, etc and requiring lower engine maintenance as well as contributing to improved engine life. It also reduces vehicular noise levels. The City Gas Distribution (CGD) network of BGL would also help supply Piped Natural Gas (PNG) in the city of Hyderabad making available to the residents a highly convenient, cheaper and safer cooking fuel right in their kitchens at a mere turn of the cooking-stove knob. This endeavour is part of the ambitious target set by Shri Murli Deora for oil industry to connect 2 crore households in various cities and towns across different States with the PNG cooking fuel supply. This also requires spreading gas pipeline network in different parts of the country so that the upcoming augmentation of gas availability could be distributed through a well developed gas pipeline grid. The groundwork for this has been completed with the formulation of Policy on Development of Gas Pipeline and City Gas Distribution projects, enactment of Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) Act in April 2006,and the process of constituting PNGR Board being at an advance stage.

It may be recalled that acceleration in exploration and production activities off Andhra Pradesh coast has resulted in large gas discoveries both by public sector and private companies in the recent past. This will not only give a boost to supply of gas for industries and City Gas Distribution projects in Andhra Pradesh but also in several other parts of the country as gas availability is slated to double from the current level of about 95 million metric standard cubic meters per day (MMSCMD) in coming few years.

Earlier, Shri Murli Deora had wide ranging discussions with the Andhra Pradesh CM covering issues of further accelerating exploration and production activities in and around Andhra Pradesh, implementing downstream projects including setting up of Kakinada Refinery and Petrochemical project, strategic storage facilities at Visakhapatnam and supply of gas for projects in Andhra Pradesh, etc.

Source : Press Information Bureau

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