Soon, Policy To Restrict Pet Coke Imports: Oil Minister
Government framing policy to curb pet coke imports, which is known to be a major polluter.
Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan today said the government is planning to curb the import of petroleum coke (pet coke) which is said to be a major polluter.
"At present, ministry of petroleum along with ministries of environment, commerce and some other ministries are framing a policy to increase restrictions on imports of pet coke,” Pradhan told reporters at a media conference. “We are planning to implement a system to stop imports and use home-produced pet coke for non-polluting sectors, such as cement production,” he said.
The statement follows reports that U.S.-based oil refineries are exporting pet coke -- a carbon-rich solid material derived from oil refining -- to India as there aren't many takers for it in their country.
Pet coke does not cause pollution if it is used as fuel in certain industries such as cement production, the minister said.
Recently the Supreme Court banned the use of pet coke in three states surrounding the Delhi-NCR. Consumption of pet coke is around 25 million tonnes in our country. Of this, around 13 million tonnes is produced by Indian refineriesUnion Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan
Giving details of ongoing work by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. in Kutch Offshore Basin, Pradhan said the basin, near the Gujarat coast, would produce nearly three million metric standard cubic meter per day of gas for the next 15 years.
"It is a significant discovery. ONGC is carrying out exploratory work in the basin for the last one year,” Pradhan said. “This is a Rs 2,500 crore project, which would produce 3 MMCM per day for the next 15 years,” he added.