Centre has no plans to ban petrol and diesel vehicles in the near future but will continue to push for greater use of electric vehicles with a view to cut oil imports and save the environment, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said Tuesday.
Conventional energy sources of coal and oil constitute morethan 80 per cent of India’s energy basket and the demand for energy willcontinue to grow as the country’s economy expands further.
“EV is a priority but the incremental requirement offuel will have to be met through a combination of BS-VI grade petrol anddiesel, CNG and biofuels alongside EV,” he told reporters on sidelines ofan industry event here.
The Niti Aayog has reportedly proposed that after 2030, onlyelectric vehicles should be sold in India. A panel headed by Niti Aayog ChiefExecutive Officer Amitabh Kant had earlier suggested that only EV(three-wheelers and two-wheelers) with an engine capacity of up to 150 ccshould be sold from 2025 onwards.
The policy think-tank believes that a move to allow salveonly EVs from 2030 will expand the scope of the clean fuel technology beyondtwo-and three-wheelers in the country.
“Is there any government paper that mentions thatpetrol and diesel vehicles will be banned from a particular date?” Pradhanasked. “India cannot afford to do that.”
India consumed 211.6 million tonne of petroleum products in2018-19. Of this, diesel consumption was 83.5 million tonne and petrol 28.3million tonne.
All of the petrol and bulk of diesel is consumed byautomobiles, including cars, buses and trucks.
Pradhan said transport remains the most demanding sector foroil and such a wide base of automobiles will need a combination of fuels.
“We will need CNG, PNG (piped natural gas), biofuelsand biogas,” he said.
While the country will switch to the usage of ultra-cleanBS-VI grade petrol and diesel, meeting emission standards equivalent to euro-VIfuels, from April 1, 2020, the government is aggressively pushing for increasedusage of CNG by automobiles particularly in public transport.
Even in petrol and diesel, it is mixing sugarcane-extractedethanol and non-edible oils, respectively, to reduce dependence on conventionaloil. Also, biogas generated from city and agriculture waste is being heavilypromoted, he said.
India, he said, has energy demand that is growing at thefastest rate in the world and no one source can meet it. “It has to be acombination of fuels,” he said.
According to the Niti Aayog, 100 per cent EV sale by 2030can reduce India’s import dependence by a big margin. A joint study by the NitiAayog and Rocky Mountain Institute, USA suggests that India can save 64 percent of anticipated road-based mobility-related energy demand and 37 per cent ofcarbon emissions in 2030 by pursuing a shared, electric, and connected mobilityfuture.
India is currently 83 per cent dependent on imports to meetits oil needs. Petrol demand is witnessing double-digit growth rate, whilediesel demand is rising by 5-6 per cent on the back of increasing automobilebase.The country spent USD 112 billion (Rs 7.83 lakhcrore) on importing oil in 2018-19 and a part of this can be cut with acomplete switch to EVs, according to the Niti Aayog.