TruAlt gets OMC licence; to launch 100 ethanol-BioCNG fuel stations
TruAlt Bioenergy
, India's largest ethanol producer, has been granted authorisation as an
Oil Marketing Company (OMC)
, enabling it to directly retail ethanol,
Bio-CNG
, petrol, and diesel across the country, the company said.
With this authorisation, TruAlt becomes one of the first private biofuel firms to enter the fuel retail sector, aligning its operations with India's evolving
clean energy roadmap
. The company will offer a mix of renewable and conventional fuels including ethanol (E93), Bio-CNG, petrol, diesel, EV charging, and battery swapping facilities.
'Securing OMC status marks a defining step in TruAlt Bioenergy's growth journey. This milestone enables us to directly serve India's evolving fuel needs while accelerating the shift toward cleaner energy,' said Vijay Nirani, Managing Director, TruAlt Bioenergy.
In the first phase, the company plans to set up over 100 fuel stations in Karnataka and Maharashtra, integrating biofuels and conventional fuels under one retail experience. At least 5% of these outlets will be located in remote regions, adhering to the government's mandate for inclusive access.
The move is expected to generate employment for over 2,000 people, the company said.
India's petroleum product consumption rose to 239.5 million metric tonnes (MMT) in FY2024–25, with petrol growing at 7.5% and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) at 8.9%. The diesel-to-petrol ratio has dropped from 3.6 to 2.3 in the past decade, indicating a shift in demand and presenting new opportunities for blended fuel models.
'As India's appetite for mobility surges, this is our moment to shape a retail network that fuels today's growth while powering the transition to a cleaner, more intelligent, and purpose-driven mobility ecosystem,' Nirani added.
TruAlt currently holds a 7% market share in molasses-based ethanol and 3.7% in overall ethanol supply. It is also expanding into compressed biogas (CBG) production and plans to become one of India's largest Bio-CNG producers.
India's ethanol blending rate has climbed to 18.4% in ethanol supply year 2024–25, with a record 19.7% blending in February 2025. The government is targeting 20% blending by the end of the year.
TruAlt is also planning to establish a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production facility with an annual capacity of 10 crore litres. The plant is expected to position it among the world's largest SAF producers using ethanol as feedstock.
'Our model sources agri-residue and biomass from rural communities, creating a circular economy where we return health to the soil and wealth to the farmer,' Nirani said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Gazette
an hour ago
- India Gazette
PNGRB approves pivotal reforms in natural gas pipeline tariff regulations
New Delhi [India], July 4 (ANI): In a decisive move aimed at strengthening India's transition towards a cleaner, more efficient energy landscape, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has approved the Second Amendment to the Natural Gas Pipeline Tariff Regulations, 2025. In a release, the PNGRB stated that these sweeping reforms underscore PNGRB's commitment to developing a more transparent, consumer-oriented, and investment-friendly natural gas infrastructure in India. The reforms were approved during a recent Board meeting following extensive consultations with stakeholders across the industry. Anchored in the vision of 'One Nation, One Grid, One Tariff,' this regulatory overhaul reflects PNGRB's strategy to simplify the market structure, promote cleaner fuels, and build an inclusive gas-based economy. Among the key reforms, PNGRB has reduced the number of Unified Tariff Zones from three to two, simplifying the natural gas transportation system across the country. This initiative ensures a more equitable tariff structure and enhances access to natural gas, especially in underserved a consumer-centric move, the benefit of the Unified Zonal Tariff of Zone 1 has been extended nationwide to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Piped Natural Gas (PNG) Domestic segments. This is poised to make natural gas more affordable for urban households and transport networks, thereby supporting broader clean energy stabilise tariffs and ensure efficiency in supply, PNGRB has mandated pipeline operators to procure at least 75 per cent of their annual system-use gas through long-term contracts (minimum three-year tenure). This will lower procurement risks, reduce transaction costs, and ultimately result in more predictable and affordable tariffs for consumers and investors alike. The PNGRB added in the release that it has introduced a dedicated Pipeline Development Reserve, utilising earnings from pipeline entities that exceed 75% utilisation benchmarks to fund future expansion. PNGRB has noted that 50 per cent of these net-of-tax earnings will be reinvested into infrastructure development, while the remaining 50 per cent will be passed on to consumers through tariff adjustments, creating a performance-linked, self-sustaining model for reforms represent a strategic blend of regulatory innovation and stakeholder-centric governance, ensuring that both consumers and industry players benefit equitably. By realigning tariff structures, incentivising long-term planning, and reinvesting in infrastructure, PNGRB is laying a strong foundation for India's cleaner, greener, and more inclusive energy future. PNGRB further added that it remains committed to enabling ease of doing business while keeping consumer affordability at the forefront, making natural gas the fuel of choice for India's evolving energy needs. (ANI)
Indian Express
3 hours ago
- Indian Express
Citing global trends, Nomura study says India should relax emissions norms for small cars
India must 'reform' its emissions norms, called the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) framework, to align with global best practices by incorporating protection mechanisms for small cars, a new study by researchers at Nomura has said. The study said that India follows a linear weight-based approach under its CAFE norms, 'whereby a lower weight implies a more stringent target'. This, it said, was different from regulations in major automobile markets like the United States, China, European Union and Japan, where smaller, lightweight cars have relaxed emissions norms. In India, companies such as market leader Maruti Suzuki have been lobbying in favour of relaxed emission norms for smaller hatchback cars, a segment that is seeing declining sales. 'Globally, all major automotive markets including the US, China, Japan, Korea, and Europe offer regulatory protection to small cars under their CAFE frameworks due to their environmental and socioeconomic value,' the Nomura researchers said in the recent study. 'In contrast, India's linear weight-based CAFE approach penalises lighter vehicles with disproportionately stringent CO₂ targets. This creates a structural bias where heavier vehicles with higher emissions comply easily, while small cars with lower emissions fail. Lightweighting, a key decarbonisation strategy, is thus disincentivised,' they added. What are India's CAFE norms? The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) introduced the CAFE norms in 2017 to regulate fuel consumption and carbon emissions from passenger vehicles. These norms apply to vehicles running on petrol, diesel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), compressed natural gas (CNG), hybrids, and electric vehicles (EVs) weighing less than 3,500 kg. The norms were tightened in the beginning of financial year 2022-23, with increased penalties for non-compliance. Designed to reduce oil dependency and curb air pollution, the CAFE norms push automakers to lower carbon dioxide emissions while incentivising the production of EVs, hybrids, and CNG vehicles, which are less carbon-intensive than cars that run on fossil fuels. For 2022-23, the BEE, under the Union Ministry of Power, required car companies of all units sold during the year to achieve India's Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) norms. This meant a fuel consumption of not more than 4.78 litres per 100 km and carbon dioxide emissions of not more than 113 grams per km (since it has a direct correlation with the amount of fuel consumed). Nomura researchers said that under India's emissions calculation system, the CAFE framework gives heavier vehicles more relaxed absolute CO₂ limits. A large SUV or premium car is allowed a much higher CO₂ target whereas smaller cars get a much more stringent target. The graph above, prepared by Nomura researchers, shows that that one of the high-selling SUVs (represented with a green dot, Model A), having CO₂ emissions of about 130g/km, is compliant, whereas a high-selling small car (represented with a red dot, Model B) having CO₂ emissions of about 100g/km is non-compliant. 'One of the common strategies OEMs use to lower CO₂ emissions is reducing vehicle weight while maintaining the safety characteristics of the vehicle. But under India's CAFE mechanism, lighter cars are assigned stricter absolute CO₂ targets. This means that even if a car becomes more efficient through lightweighting, it may still fall short of its now-lower target. As a result, the current framework does not adequately reward lightweighting, especially for already light, entry-level cars,' the study said. How other markets temper norms for small cars The researchers cited examples of the USA, China, Japan, South Korea and European Union to show that in these markets, regulators have prescribed relaxed emissions norms for smaller cars. USA: Follows a piecewise linear approach for cars below a certain footprint, which ensures that the target does not keep on increasing indefinitely. This implies that fuel economy target below certain car footprint is fixed and does not become progressively stricter with further reduction in size, ensuring comparatively relaxed targets for smaller cars China: Follows a similar piecewise linear approach, for cars below a certain curb weight threshold, the target becomes constant, which ensures that the fuel consumption target does not keep on tightening indefinitely for smaller, lighter cars. South Korea: For cars below a certain curb weight, the fuel economy target remains constant, ensuring that smaller, lighter cars are not subjected to increasingly stricter targets as weight reduces. Further, manufacturers also get an additional advantage of 5–7g/km in their CAFE performance, based on the sales ratio of small cars in their portfolio. Japan: Japan follows a non-linear approach, ensuring that small light-weight cars are not subjected to disproportionately higher targets. Europe: It has gone a step ahead and made the slope negative (-0.0144) which means bigger cars have a lower absolute CO₂ target and smaller cars have relaxed targets. Soumyarendra Barik is Special Correspondent with The Indian Express and reports on the intersection of technology, policy and society. With over five years of newsroom experience, he has reported on issues of gig workers' rights, privacy, India's prevalent digital divide and a range of other policy interventions that impact big tech companies. He once also tailed a food delivery worker for over 12 hours to quantify the amount of money they make, and the pain they go through while doing so. In his free time, he likes to nerd about watches, Formula 1 and football. ... Read More
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
West Bengal to add 350 CNG buses, considers more electric vehicles, ET Infra
Advt No plans to phase out electric buses, says official Advt Join the community of 2M+ industry professionals. Subscribe to Newsletter to get latest insights & analysis in your inbox. Get updates on your preferred social platform Follow us for the latest news, insider access to events and more. The West Bengal Transport Department is planning to procure around 350 compressed natural gas (CNG) buses as part of its public transport fleet expansion , a senior official said. The move is aimed at reducing carbon emissions and diversifying fuel sources.A separate proposal to acquire 25 electric buses is also under review by the relevant authorities, reports reports suggesting a possible phase-out of electric buses due to high maintenance costs, shorter battery life, and challenges in sourcing spare parts, the official said there were no such plans.'There is no such plan,' the official told PTI. 'While the process of procuring 350 CNG buses is at various stages, another proposal for the procurement of 25 electric buses is under consideration by the competent authority. We will put equal emphasis on both.'Currently, 80 electric buses are in service across state depots in both northern and southern parts of the state. Each electric bus is fitted with three batteries, each priced at ₹18 lakh, and can run between 100 to 110 kilometres on a full charge. If a battery fails, the vehicle cannot air-conditioned buses will not face battery-related issues, but the official noted the need to expand the number of CNG fuelling stations to support the new fleet.'We want to strike a balance between both CNG and electric buses,' the official said.
