Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri has said through biofuel blending the country could save Rs. 91,000 crore on the import bill and this money could be utilized for the benefit of the agricultural sector.

Inaugurating the 27th Energy Technology Summit in Bengaluru, he said India has achieved the second position in biofuel blending globally. He expressed confidence that India will achieve the target of 20 percent biofuel blending by next year, much ahead of schedule.

As our refineries take to green energy, the country will succeed in the goal towards green hydrogen, the Minister said.

The Minister said India’s energy demand will grow by two and a half times by 2047. He said India’s crude oil refining capacity has reached 400 to 450 million metric tons per annum, which is one-third of the global average.

He said the country will have to double the efforts to achieve the net carbon zero emission target by 2070. Energy security, sustainability and technology innovation should go hand-in-hand to achieve the targets in the energy sector, the Minister said.

The three-day Energy Technology Meet has been organized by the Centre for High Technology and Indian Oil Corporation Limited.