By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas &Steel Dharmendra Pradhan, along with the Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal, on Monday laid the foundation stone of Indian Oil’s state-of-the-art Technology Development & Deployment Centre as its second R&D Campus at IMT, Sector-67, Faridabad. The new centre, with an investment of Rs. 2282 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, and will work in tandem with the existing campus at Sector-13, Faridabad.
The research infrastructure at the new campus includes state-of-the-art laboratories and pilot plants in the domains of alternative & renewable energy, e.g., fuel cell, Hydrogen, gasification & solar energy research, semi-commercial nano-material production unit, scale-up/pilot plants in petrochemicals, catalysts, biotechnology, etc.
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.
Speaking on the occasion, Pradhan 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. IndianOil’s R&D Centre has contributed significantly towards Prime Minister’s dream of Aaatmanirbhar 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 and fulfilling hon’ble prime Minister’s vision of Aatamnirbharbharat, he said.
Expressing gratitude to the Haryana government for its support to the activities of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in the state, he congratulated the Chief minister for making Haryana a kerosene-free state. He said that the state can play a leading role in converting the Agro-residues into clean energy. Haryana has shown tremendous improvement in socio-economic and development parameters under the leadership of Manohar Lal.
He said that we are committed to make Haryana a leading R&D hub in the country. Stressing upon the R&D as a key element of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, he urged the Indianoil to provide further impetus to waste-to-energy programmes in the state and work towards making the state a global model in alternative energy solutions. A community-based model for segregation of waste to convert it into energy will be a win-win situation for all. He said that the state has huge potential to harness the alternative sources of energy
The minister said that during the Corona crisis, India played an important role in supplying medicines to the world. He said that the petrochemical requirement in the country is going up, and we have to reduce import of the petroleum products. He called upon the industry to work towards making India a petrochemical hub, and make country aatamnirbhar.
The Haryana chief Minister, in his address, said that during the Corona pandemic, the state rose to the occasion, by tackling the crisis effectively, and also providing relief to the affected workers. Expressing gratitude for selecting Haryana for setting up Indinaoil’s new research unit, Khattarsaid that the state is a front-runner in not only agriculture sector, but is also developing as a Sports hub and a major player in the automobile sector.
He said that the State played a pro-active role in making it a Kerosene-free state, as it was felt that some unscrupulous elements were using it for adulteration purposes, and hence there was no opposition when it was implemented. The households are being provided LPG connections. He said that the state will definitely move ahead in the LNG and Agro-industry sectors.
