India’s National Policy on Biofuels

India’s National Biofuel Policy, initially announced in 2018 and revised in 2022, is to encourage production and use of biofuels to decrease dependence on foreign fossil fuels, attain energy independence, and combat climate change, with a vision of 20% blending of ethanol in petrol by Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2025-26.

Main Objectives and Purposes:
•Reduce Import Dependence:
The policy seeks to minimize the importation of petroleum products by encouraging domestic biofuel production.
• Energy Security:
By promoting biofuels, the policy enhances India’s energy security through fuel diversification.
• Climate Change Mitigation:
Biofuels are seen as a way to reduce carbon emissions and assist in curbing climate change.
• Sustainable Development:
The policy encourages the use of environmentally friendly biofuel production and utilization.
• Job Creation:
The policy is designed to open up new job opportunities in the biofuel industry.
• Farmers’ Income
The policy is intended to boost farmers’ earnings by creating a market for farm residues and other feedstocks.
• Trash to Treasure
The policy promotes the use of farm residues and other non-food biomass feedstocks for biofuel production.
Most Prominent Points of the Policy:
• Feedstock Diversification:
The policy permits more feedstocks for making biofuels than currently available, such as sugarcane juice, sugar, sugar syrup, biomass, agricultural residues, and non-food oilseeds.
• Advanced Biofuels:
The policy revolves around the production and utilization of next-generation biofuels, including second-generation (2G) ethanol and third-generation biofuels.
• Financial Incentives:
The policy offers budgetary support for biofuel production in the form of viability gap funding of 2G ethanol biorefineries and tax relief.

National Biofuel Coordination Committee (NBCC):
The NBCC, led by the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, will be the coordinating body for overall coordination, effective end-to-end implementation, and monitoring of the biofuel program.
• Ethanol Blending Programme (EBP):
The policy aims at enhancing the ethanol blending in gasoline to reach the target of 20% by ESY 2025-26.
• Biodiesel Blending Programme (BBP):
The policy also encourages blending of biodiesel with diesel to a target of 5% by 2030.
• Quality Standards:
The policy also reiterates that biofuels should be of international standards, and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) will implement stringent quality standards for bioethanol and biodiesel.
• Make in India Initiative:
The policy encourages indigenous production of biofuels, under the Make in India initiative, by units based in Special Economic Zones (SEZ)/ Export Oriented Units (EoUs).
•Atmanirbhar Bharat
The policy is intended to support the Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-Reliant India) mission by decreasing the importation of petroleum products through enhanced production of biofuels.