PM addresses World Environment Day celebrations
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the World Environment Day celebrations through video conference today. The event was jointly organized by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The Prime Minister also interacted with a farmer from Pune during the function who shared his experience about organic farming and use of bio-fuels in agriculture.
The Prime Minister released the Report of the Expert Committee on Roadmap for Ethanol Blending in India 2020-2025. He launched the ambitious E-100 pilot project in Pune for the production and distribution of ethanol across the country. The theme of this year’s event was ‘Promoting Bio-fuels for a Better Environment’. Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, Narendra Singh Tomar, Prakash Javadekar, Piyush Goyal and Dharmendra Pradhan were present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said that India has taken another leap by releasing a detailed roadmap for the development of the ethanol sector on the occasion of World Environment Day. He said that ethanol has become a major priority of 21st century India. He said that the focus on ethanol is having a better impact on the environment as well as on the lives of farmers. He said that the government has resolved to reduce the time to achieve the target of 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol to 2025. Earlier, the time to achieve this target was fixed at 2030, which has been reduced by 5 years. He said that till 2014 only 1.5 per cent ethanol was mixed in petrol on an average which has now increased to 8.5 per cent. In 2013-14, about 38 crore liters of ethanol were procured in the country, which has now increased to 320 crore liters. He said that the eight-fold increase in ethanol procurement has benefited the sugarcane growing farmers of the country.
The Prime Minister said that the India of the 21st century can derive energy from modern thinking and modern policies of the 21st century. With this thinking, the government is continuously taking policy decisions in every field. He said that today emphasis is being laid on creation of necessary infrastructure for production and procurement of ethanol in the country. Most of the ethanol manufacturing units are concentrated in 4-5 states where sugarcane is high production but now foodgrain based distilleries are being set up to expand it all over the country. Modern technology based plants are being set up in the country to make ethanol from agricultural waste.
The Prime Minister said that India is a staunch supporter of a just climate system and is moving forward with the global vision of setting up the International Solar Alliance with the vision of One Sun, One World, One Grid and Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure Initiative. vision can be achieved. He said that India has been included in the top 10 countries in the Climate Change Performance Index. He said that India is aware of the challenges posed by climate change and is actively working.
The Prime Minister talked about the hard and soft approach adopted to fight climate change. Talking about the strict approach, he said that our capacity for renewable energy has increased by more than 250 percent in the last 6-7 years. India today ranks among the top 5 countries in the world in terms of installed renewable energy capacity. Especially the potential of solar energy has increased by about 15 times in the last 6 years.
The Prime Minister said that the country has taken historic steps with a soft attitude. Today, the common people of the country have joined and are leading pro-environmental campaigns like avoiding the use of single-use plastic, beach cleaning and Swachh Bharat. He said that the impact of distributing more than 37 crore LED bulbs and more than 23 lakh energy efficient fans is often not discussed. He said that similarly, due to the provision of electricity connections to crores of people under Saubhagya Yojana, their dependence on wood has reduced considerably. Apart from reducing pollution, it has helped in improving health and strengthening of environmental protection. He said that India is setting an example to the world that it is not necessary to stop development to protect the environment. He stressed that both economy and ecology can go together and progress. And this is the path India has chosen. He said that along with strengthening the economy, our forests have also increased by 15,000 square kilometers in the last few years. In the last few years, the number of tigers in our country has doubled and the number of leopards has also increased by about 60 percent.
The Prime Minister said that clean and energy efficient systems, strong urban infrastructure and planned eco-restoration form a very important part of the self-reliant India campaign. He said that with all the efforts related to environment, new investment opportunities are being created in the country, lakhs of youth are also getting employment. He said that India is working with a holistic approach to control air pollution through the National Clean Air Plan. He said that work on waterways and multimodal connectivity will not only strengthen the mission of green transport, but will also improve the logistic efficiency of the country. Today the metro rail service in the country has increased from 5 cities to 18 cities, which has helped in reducing the use of private vehicles.
The Prime Minister said that today a large part of the country’s railway network has been electrified. The country’s airports are also increasingly being made useable for electricity from solar energy. He elaborated that before 2014 only 7 airports had solar power facility, whereas today the number has increased to more than 50. More than 80 airports have been installed with LED lights which will improve energy efficiency.
The Prime Minister discussed the ongoing project to develop Kevadiya as an electric vehicle city. He said that necessary infrastructure is being provided so that in future only battery based buses, two wheelers, four wheelers ply in Kevadiya. He said that water cycle is also directly related to climate change and imbalance in water cycle will directly affect water security. He said that through the Jal Jeevan Mission, work is being done in the country with a holistic view from the creation and conservation of water resources to the use of water resources. He said that on one hand every family is being connected with pipes and on the other hand the focus is on raising the ground water level through campaigns like Atal Bhujal Yojana and Catch the Rain.
The Prime Minister announced that the government has identified 11 sectors that can make better use of resources by recycling them through modern technology. He said that a lot of work has been done on Garbage Se Kanchan Abhiyan in the last few years and now it is being taken forward very fast in mission mode. An action plan for this will be implemented in the coming months which will have all the regulatory and developmental aspects. He stressed that it is very important to organize our efforts to protect the environment to protect the climate. He urged that we will be able to give a safe environment to our future generations only when every citizen of the country makes joint efforts to maintain the balance of water, air and land.
Environment Day: 21st century Ethanol biggest priority: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the program organized on World Environment Day through video conferencing. During this, the PM described ethanol as the priority of the 21st century. He said that India is emerging as a leader of climate justice. Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the report of the Expert Committee on Road Map for Ethanol Blending in India 2020-2025 at the event.
Before his address, the Prime Minister also spoke to the farmers of different states of the country on ethanol. During this, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, Union Petroleum Transport Minister Dharmendra Pradhan were present in the program. The Prime Minister said that 7-8 years ago, discussions on ethanol were rare in India, but now ethanol has become a part of India’s priorities of the 21st century. It is helping the environment as well as the lives of the farmers. The PM said that we have resolved to complete 20 percent ethanol blending in petrol by 2025. Till 2014, on an average only 1-1.5 per cent ethanol was being blended and today it has reached around 8.5 per cent.
It is worth noting that the theme of this year’s program was to promote biofuels for a better environment. PM Modi said that India is aware of the challenges that are being faced due to climate change and is also working actively. He said that in 6-7 years our capacity for renewable energy has increased by more than 250 percent. The PM also launched a pilot project of E100 distribution stations at three locations in Pune. The event was jointly organized by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. In order to celebrate the World Environment Day, the Government of India has asked oil companies to sell ethanol blended petrol with a percentage of ethanol up to 20 per cent with effect from April 1, 2023 and regarding BIS specification relating to higher ethanol blends E-12 and E-15. Giving instructions, E-20 is issuing notification.
