Industry urged to adopt newer technology
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has recommended reducing the GST rate on CNG vehicles to 5% at par with electric vehicles (EVs), informed Sunil Kumar, Joint Secretary (Refineries).
“We have sent the recommendations to the Finance Ministry for consideration,” he told the FICCI webinar ‘Biofuel Roadmap for India: Moving towards Green Transportation’.
The government is also considering a reduction in the GST rate on bio-diesel, which is currently at 12%, he shared.
In order to provide relief to the industry and promote biogas, Kumar said that the ministry is ensuring easing of cash flow for new entrepreneurs to improve the viability for the CBG (compressed biogas) plants.
“We are also coordinating with state governments on biomass aggregation,” he said, expecting bio-CBG to take the lead and it will trigger a greater change in both supply and distribution.
“It will set the motion for other biofuels to follow,” added Kumar.
He also urged the industry to adopt newer technology.
“Our demand along with consumption in the transportation sector, of energy, is increasing. We have a policy on bio-fuel, but unless the transportation sector is also ready to adapt to the changes, it will not be successful,” he stressed.
“The growing concern of import dependence on fuel is driving us to work towards bio-fuel,” added O P Agarwal, Chairman, FICCI Taskforce on Future of Mobility and CEO of WRI India.
The government has launched sustainable alternatives for affordable transport and this scheme is on compressed biofuel gas, which ambitiously targets about 50 million metric tonnes of gas from 5,000 plants by 2023. #opec #iea #energy #petroleum #biofuels #CNG /fiinews.com
