'Centre may tie up with Goa govt for green energy fuel chain'

The Centre is likely to tie up with the Goa government to create green energy fuel chain, which would be the first of its kind in the country, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said here today.
"I met Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar in Delhi when he came there. I requested him that the Centre and the Goa government should come together to create green energy fuel chain in the state," Pradhan told reporters near here after commissioning ship 'Shaurya' for Indian Coast Guard.
"Goa is a great tourist destination of the country and in the next few years, the state can have 100 per cent green fuel, which will be add-on for the tourism potential," he said.

Responding to a query, Pradhan said that green fuel chain was not a new concept, as several European countries have brought in regulations that banned the use of fossil fuel.
"We need to study how they have done it and the same can be adopted in Goa on an experimental basis," the minister said.
According to him, enough raw material was generated through agriculture, tourism and fisheries industries to create alternative fuel.

The minister also said that the union government wanted to encourage the use of alternative fuel in the Indian marine sector. "High speed diesel, which is currently used in this sector, can be replaced with alternative fuel," he said.

Pradhan said that he has suggested that the organisations like Goa Shipyard Ltd, Indian Coast Guard and GAIL should partner to conduct a pilot study whether LNG and CNG could be used as a fuel, which is cheaper, in the marine sector.
"Soon we will have a technical MOU with these three organisations," he said.