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Fossil fuels will continue to remain the primary source of India's energy for at least the next 10 to 15 years, while biofuels and other alternative energy sources will serve as complementary solutions rather than complete substitutes, according to BPCL Executive Director (Biofuels) Anurag Saraogi.

Saraogi said biofuels have become a key pillar of the global energy security framework, with countries adopting diverse strategies to advance their energy transition while balancing economic and environmental priorities. "Biofuels are an integral component of the global energy security platform. There are multiple energy transition paths which are being followed, and biofuels are one of them," he said.

Highlighting India's achievements, Saraogi noted that the country has made remarkable progress in ethanol blending since launching the programme in 2003, reaching the significant milestone of 20 per cent ethanol blending. "India is also not new to adopting it. There is a huge ethanol journey that India has taken since 2003," he said.

 

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He added that India is also making steady progress in the compressed biogas (CBG) sector, supported by various government schemes aimed at boosting production and adoption. At the same time, discussions are gaining momentum around the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to help decarbonise the aviation industry.

"In compressed biogas also, we are moving ahead, and there are a lot of available schemes which are available to prosper... there is a dialogue about sustainable aviation fuel for the aviation side also," he said. Saraogi emphasised that although biofuels and other clean energy sources will play an increasingly important role in India's energy landscape, they are unlikely to replace fossil fuels in the near future. Instead, they will gradually expand their share of the country's overall energy mix alongside conventional fuels.

"India has already done 20 per cent of ethanol blending... right up to 2035-2040, this journey of biofuels or any other alternative energy would not be so much that it replaces the fossil fuels," he said, adding that fossil fuels will continue to be a critical part of India's energy basket over the next decade and beyond as the transition to cleaner fuels progresses.