Hardeep Singh Puri has officially taken charge as the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas on June 11.
Boosting domestic oil and gas production, promoting green hydrogen and increasing ethanol use will be the key priorities of the government, he said.
After taking charge as Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri said that India under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi successfully navigated the energy trilemma of energy availability, affordability and sustainability while nations in our neighbourhood and even developed countries struggled with energy rationing, pump dry-outs and spiralling fuel prices. India is perhaps the only country in the world where fuel prices have come down over a two-and half-year reference period.
Highlighting the government’s dedication to integrating green hydrogen in the refining process, Puri said that green hydrogen plants at refineries in Panipat (10 KTA), Mathura (5 KTA), and Paradeep (10 KTA) will be installed soon. “First green hydrogen plant (10 MW) was commissioned on 27th May 2024, even as elections were on. Many of our Oil PSUs are in the process of issuance of tender for supply of green hydrogen. Green hydrogen station at Kochi has been commissioned for bus plying from Kochi Airport.”, he added.
Talking about upcoming projects in refining sector, Shri Puri, said that BPCL is in advanced stage to set up greenfield refineries and GAIL is also planning an ethane cracker unit for petrochemicals. “BPCL’s Bina refinery is coming up and Cauvery Basin Refinery is also coming up by IOCL at Chennai”, he added.
