Page 42 - Policy Economic Report - December 2024

POLICY AND ECONOMIC REPORT
OIL & GAS MARKET

viii. Policy framework for extension of PSCs for Discovered Fields and Exploration Blocks
under Pre-New Exploration Licensing Policy (Pre-NELP), 2016 and 2017.

ix. Policy to Promote and Incentivize Enhanced Recovery Methods for Oil and Gas, 2018.

x. Policy Framework for exploration and exploitation of Unconventional Hydrocarbons
under Existing Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs), Coal Bed Methane (CBM) Contracts
and Nomination Fields, 2018.

xi. Natural Gas Marketing Reforms, 2020.

xii. Lower Royalty Rates, Zero Revenue Share (till Windfall Gain) and no drilling
commitment in Phase-I in OALP Blocks under Category II and III basins to attract bidders.

xiii. Release of about 1 Million Sq. Km. (SKM) ‘No-Go’ area in offshore which were blocked
for exploration for decades.

xiv. Government is also spending about Rs.7500 Cr. for acquisition of seismic data in
onland and offshore areas and drilling of stratigraphic wells to make quality data of Indian
Sedimentary Basins available to bidders. Government has approved acquisition of
additional 2D Seismic data of 20,000 LKM in onland and 30,000 LKM in offshore beyond
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of India.

Government Policies to accelerate the growth of the Bio Energy Sector

Government has notified the National Bioenergy Programme (NBP) with an aim to promote the use of
bioenergy and waste-to-energy technologies to support clean energy solutions to enhance energy security
and support sustainable development in India. In addition, to accelerate the growth of the biofuels sector
and achieve the enhanced ethanol blending by 2025, the Government, since 2014, has taken several
measures which inter-alia includes expansion of feedstock for production of ethanol, administered price
mechanism for procurement of sugarcane based ethanol under the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP)
Programme, lowered GST rate to 5% on ethanol for EBP Programme, introduction of various Ethanol
Interest Subvention Schemes (EISS), during 2018-22, for ethanol production from molasses as well as
grains and Long Term Offtake Agreements (LTOAs) by Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) with Dedicated
Ethanol Plants (DEPs) etc., Notification of the “Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN (Jaiv Indhan – Vatavaran Anukool
fasal awashesh Nivaran) Yojana” to provide financial support for integrated bio-ethanol projects for
setting up Advanced Biofuels projects in the country using lignocellulosic biomass and other renewable
feedstock.

To promote the production of maize as a major feedstock for grain based ethanol supply under Ethanol
Blended Petrol Programme, training/awareness/ exposure programme have been conducted by Indian
Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)- Indian Institute of Maize Research (IIMR) under its project
‘Enhancement of Maize Production in Catchment Area of Ethanol Industries’ for various stakeholders
including farmers across the country for quality maize production towards profitable ethanol production.

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