India cut 557 lakh metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions through ethanol blending

Over the past 10 years, ethanol blending in petrol has led to a reduction of 557 lakh metric tonnes of CO₂ emissions. The “Pradhan Mantri G-One Yojana” has also been introduced to further support clean energy initiatives,” said Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Suresh Gopi, in response to MP Madan Rathore’s query in the Rajya Sabha.

The State BJP President highlighted that the BJP government has launched multiple schemes to cut crude oil reliance and boost domestic oil and gas production. Under this, several key policies have been introduced, including the Policy 2014 under the production sharing contract (PSC) system for early monetisation of hydrocarbon discoveries, the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (2016), the Policy for Expansion of PSC (2016-17), the Policy for Coal Bed Methane Monetisation (2017), the Policy for Enhanced Oil and Gas Recovery (2018), and the Natural Gas Marketing Reform Policy (2020), Madan Rathore said.

He also said that the Modi government has consistently taken steps to manage fuel pricing, counter global crude oil price fluctuations, and ease the burden on consumers. The government reduced central excise duty on petrol and diesel twice — in November 2021 and May 2022 — by Rs 13 and Rs 16 per litre, respectively. In March 2024, oil marketing companies also cut retail fuel prices by Rs 2 per litre nationwide. Additionally, the state government has worked to minimise regional disparities in petrol and diesel prices while providing subsidised domestic LPG cylinders to more than 10.33 crore beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.