Dharmendra Pradhan flags off 1st supply of Used Cooking Oil-based Biodiesel

Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan virtually flagged off the 1st supply of  UCO (Used Cooking Oil) based Biodiesel blended Diesel from IndianOil’s Tikrikalan Terminal, Delhi. It is part of the Expression of Interests (EoI) scheme.

i.On Occasion of the World Biofuel Day (10th August) in 2019, various Central Ministries such as Petroleum and Natural Gas, Steel, Health & Family Welfare, Science & Technology and Earth Science  initiated an EoI Scheme for ‘Procurement of Biodiesel produced from UCO’ .

ii.It was aimed at creating an ecosystem for collection and conversion of UCO into Biodiesel and develop entrepreneurship opportunities.

iii.India has set a target to achieve 5% blending of Biodiesel in Diesel by 2030.

EoI Scheme

i.The initiative has been carried out in 2 phases,

• Under Phase 1 – 11 EoIs were floated between August, 2019 to November, 2020 for 200 locations.
• Under Phase 2 – EoIs have been extended for one more year up to December, 2021 for 300 locations across India.

ii.Under the initiative, OMCs (Oil Marketing Companies) offered periodical incremental price guarantees for 5 years & extended off-take guarantees for 10 years to prospective entrepreneurs.

• IndianOil has issued 23 LOIs for Biodiesel plants with a capacity of 22.95 Crore Litres.
• IndianOil received 51 KL of UCO-Biodiesel at its Tikrikalan terminal in Delhi as of March, 2021.
• IndianOil is constructing 8 Biodiesel plants across Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh.

iii.The scheme has the following benefits

• The initiative aims to boost Biodiesel supply and play a major role in reducing import dependence and generating rural employment.
• It will help in diverting the use of unhealthy used oil from the food chain to a more productive purpose.

Biodiesel

It is an alternative fuel which is similar to conventional or fossil diesel, except that it is carbon neutral.

• It can be produced from vegetable oils, animal fats, tallow and waste cooking oil.
• It is rapidly biodegradable and completely non-toxic.
• India has set a target of 10 %(10% of ethanol mixed with 90% of petrol) blending by 2022 & 20 % blending by 2025.

Recent Related News:

i.April 12, 2021, Ethanol-blending in Petrol in India reached more than 7.2 per cent for the First Time.

About Indian Oil Corporation (IOC):

Chairman– Shrikant Madhav Vaidya
Headquarter– New Delhi

About Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG):
Union Minister – Dharmendra Pradhan (Rajya Sabha, Constituency – Madhya Pradesh)