Interim Budget 2024: India to make phased blending of biogas in CNG mandatory

India has been thriving towards a net zero carbon emission goal. In an effort to boost that attempt, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday, in her interim budget 2024 speech, announced that the government will provide make phased blending of compressed biogas (CBG) in compressed natural gas (CNG) for use in the transport sector mandatory.

The Indian government has pledged to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2070. A large chunk of the carbon emission of India is attributed to the transport sector. In order to curb vehicular emissions the government has been making various efforts. While one of them is promoting battery-powered pure electric vehicles, the government is also emphasising on use of various different greener and cleaner powertrain technology solutions. One of them is the use of CNG. To make the CNG further cleaner and more environmentally friendly, the government aims to make phased blending for CBG mandatory.

Besides this, the move is also aimed at the reduction of fossil fuel imports from overseas markets. India currently imports more than 85 per cent of its total fossil fuel requirement from the overseas markets. Despite CNG being a cleaner fuel compared to petrol or diesel, it is a fossil fuel and procured majorly from overseas markets. The move could result in a reduction in imports, which will eventually help the country to save a large sum of money every year.

Sitharaman in her budget speech also said that the government will expand and strengthen the electric vehicle ecosystem by supporting manufacturing and charging infrastructure. She further added that greater adoption of electric buses for public transport networks will be encouraged through the payment security mechanism. However, the interim budget 2024 didn't mention anything about the extension of the FAME scheme, which has been a key demand from industry stakeholders to promote electric mobility in the country.