Benglauru
India’s industrial sector has made some decent progress in adopting biodiesel , although at present it may be less than 0.25% of the total fuel consumed, according to industry information.
Oil marketing companies such as Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation are learnt to have increased their biodiesel procurement from 1.1 crore litres in 2015-to 16 to 10.56 crore litres in 2019-to 20.
Commenting on the country’s growing preparedness for biodiesel adoption, Arvind K Garg, executive VP and head, L&T Construction Mining Machinery, said mining, construction, transport, railways and auxiliary power generation were likely to be significant biodiesel end-users in India.
“These segments are expected to boost the markets in years to come, all leading to achieving the country’s carbon neutrality target by 2070,” Mr. Garg said.
He, however, added that compared with developed countries, where corporates were organised and users were guided by OEMs and biodiesel companies with well-defined specifications, India was at an early adoption stage.
Still, increased supply and usage of biodiesel as a percentage of HSD (high speed diesel) could be ensured, with OEMs also coming forward and manufacturing compatible machines, industry players added.
Yasunori Fujii, MD, Komatsu India, a construction equipment manufacturer, said, “We are ready for biodiesel. I expect high-quality biodiesel suppliers to establish a nationwide supply chain soon.”
The construction equipment industry has already started moving towards sustainable technologies to reduce carbon footprint and greenhouse effects, including introduction of electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel cells and biodiesel.
In terms of creating a supply chain and availability of biodiesel in the country, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh are way ahead compared with other States.
India’s target for biodiesel production was 200 million litres in 2021.
