NEW DELHI, June 29: Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Monday research and development is a key element in making India self-reliant in energy sector and fulfilling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Aatamnirbhar Bharat.
Mr Pradhan, along with Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal laid the foundation stone for Indian Oil’s state-of-the-art Technology Development & Deployment Centre as its second R&D Campus at IMT in Faridabad.
He said, ”The R&D Centre of Indian Oil has over the years blossomed into a state-of-the art research institution for downstream petroleum R&D, focusing on indigenizing technologies and processes to suit Indian conditions. Indian Oil’s R&D Centre has contributed significantly towards Prime Minister’s dream of a Aatmanirbhar Bharat.”
The R&D centre will be a laboratory for alternative, clean and indigenous energy solutions and is a big step towards realising the goal of making India a self-reliant in the energy sector, he said.
The new centre, with an investment of Rs 2,282 crore, and covers an area of about 59 acres. The new campus would focus on demonstration & deployment of various technologies developed by IndianOil R&D.
The second centre at Sector 67 will work in tandem with the existing campus at Sector-13 in Faridabad.
The research infrastructure at the new campus includes state-of-the-art laboratories and pilot plants in the domains of alternative & renewable energy — fuel cell, Hydrogen, gasification & solar energy research, semi-commercial nano-material production unit, scale-up or pilot plants in petrochemicals, catalysts and biotechnology.
This new extension of Indian Oil’s R&D Centre is going to focus on non-conventional energy domains besides the conventional ones and will aim at indigenisation of several frontline and sunrise technologies such as Petrochemicals, Batteries/Energy Storage Devices, Bio-Energy- Greenhouse gas (CO2) capture, Novel nano materials for catalysts or fuel cells, Hydrogen production pathways and Fuel cells for both mobility and stationary applications. Expressing gratitude to the Haryana government for its support to the activities of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in the state, Mr Pradhan congratulated the Chief minister for making Haryana a kerosene-free state.
The minister said that during the Corona crisis, India played an important role in supplying medicines to the world.
He maintained that, ”The petrochemical requirement in the country is going up, and we have to reduce import of the petroleum products.”
(UNI)
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