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• Amidst rising energy prices and a growing concern over global environmental & ecological issues, adoption of Renewable Energy sources is the primary objective of the Energy Industry and Government. India has been projected to face perpetual shortfall in meeting the energy demand. The focus of Renewable Energy has tended to be on Electricity, and hence Bio Energy does not attract the same mindshare as the new technologies like Wind and Solar.  However, Bio Energy also plays a key role in cooking/heating & has future potential in transport. Realising this fact, CII today organized "Bio Energy Summit 2011".Focusing on the importance of Bio Energy, Mr Pramod Chaudhari, Co-Chairman, CII National Committee on Renewable Energy & Chairman, Praj Industries Ltd in the course of his welcome remarks stated that India has got large ambitions for developing a strong domestic Bio-energy industry, strengthened additionally by the potential of this sector to positively impact the lives of the farmers. Therefore the Bio-gas technologies whether it is in the form of cooking gas through Biomass digester or electricity generated through biomass gasifier based producer gas engines or direct fired boilers through steam turbines can play an important role in country's energy security.  
• Dr Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister, MNRE and chief guest for the occasion stated that developing India requires energy for economic growth and job creation.  Similar to National Solar Mission, MNRE is working on developing the National Bio Energy Mission which will provide a concerted push for the sustainable development of this sector. Grid parity amongst states is not equal and connectivity to remote locations is a major issue. Government of India is supporting the states for grid up-gradation. The Ministry seeks industry's feedback on supports required and wants industry's to bring innovative new technologies that would empower rural areas. The minister appreciated CII's role in this regard and expected CII to continue its efforts towards providing a platform for national and international industrial interactions for capacity building and policy interface.It is being reported that National Committee on Renewable Energy of CII, under the guidance & support of Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology has carried out a survey based technical study report on "Technology Assessment of Bio-Industrial Products in India" with real time data from the industries and other stakeholders' domain to identify different bio-based chemicals and fuels and assess the technology interventions required to ensure a sustainable growth of the same in India. The report is expected to be released soon.
• The guest of honor Mr G B Pradhan, Secretary, MNRE in his remarks stated that the most critical aspect in promoting bio energy projects is the associated business model. He laid special emphasis on the ground reality that unless there is a sustainable business model, promoting any technology is tough even though the potential might be enormous. He further mentioned that the potential can also be increased further with an assistance of growing business. He also remarked that CII is the best suited to address this issue and play a crucial role in pining downs the national Bio Energy Mission to a business model. Mr K Krishan, Chairman, CII Task Force on Bio-Energy & Chairman, MPPPL Renewable Energy Pvt Ltd emphasized in his remarks that energy security and energy access are the most important current issues in this sector. Hybrid solutions which combine Bio Energy with solar, wind and hydro look promising sustainable solutions. He further mentioned that the industry today have to think to have an integrated environment, bio and energy management strategies to become more sustainable.
• While, this sector is receiving increasing investments in recent years, however, the development of Bio energy in India is being confronted with several teething challenges, especially with regard to dilemmas related to policy development, commercial sustainability, feedstock availability, availability of appropriate technologies, appropriate financing and market linkages. During the Bio Energy summit, CII has recommended to rationalize pricing of fuels and tariffs to reflect economic cost of supply, reduce cross subsidies, flexibility to capture changing fuel prices in a competitive market. It was also suggested that MNRE and Ministry of Power should interact closely with the "Forum of Regulators" to ensure that Biomass/Biogas tariffs fixation is in context to "displaced costs" of electricity generation firing imported coal/LNG.  CERC norms for Biomass Price escalation needs to be adopted by all SERCs. Generation Based Incentives should be extended to Biomass & Biogas Power Plants, which would be over and above the benchmark feed-in tariff to be adopted by States. Production based subsidy in the form of incentives or excise duty exemption or tax relief should be offered to make biomass based biofuels more viable and sustainable in longer run.

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