Union Government to invest Rs 15000 crore to increase Panipat oil refinery capacity

The Union Government has decided to invest 15,000 crore rupees to increase the capacity of Panipat refinery in Haryana to 25 Million Tonnes from existing 15 Million Tonnes.
It was announced by Union Minister of State (MoS) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan at a function in Panipat.
Key Facts

  • The expansion of Panipat refinery will help raise specifications of fuel quality from BS-IV to BS-VI to meet future demand.
  • It will also create employment opportunities for the people and also help in raising quality of fuel in the country by the year 2020.
  • Besides, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) will also set up bio-ethanol plant in Panipat to generate alternative fuel from agricultural residue which would boost agriculture sector.

What is Bioethanol?

  • It is an alcohol derived by process of fermentation mostly from carbohydrates of agricultural residue and feedstocks.
  • As a quasi-renewable energy, ethonal can be blended with petrol or diesel making it a sustainable transport fuel. It will help to reducing emissions and dependency on imported fuel.

Benefits of bio-ethanol plant
Help in solving the chronic problem of straw burning of leftover agro-based produce especially from wheat and rice feedstocks. Benefit farmers economically, as they would be paid for their agro-based produce to extract bio-ethanol. It would also help in preventing the loss of fertility of soil and damage to environment by reducing air pollution.


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