Modi 3.0: Hardeep Puri takes charge as Union Petroleum and Natural Gas minister

After taking charge Puri said, "...Oil production from the 98/2 well will increase to 45,000 barrels per day very soon and gas production will also start soon... We were able to cross 15 per cent of ethanol blending. As you know, the Prime Minister had set a target of 20 per cent blending by 2030...On the basis of what I have seen and the basis of the work in progress, I am reasonably confident that the 20 per cent blending target, which was brought forward from 2030 to 2025, will be completed by 2025."

After taking charge Puri said, "As you know, the Prime Minister had set a target of 20 pre-blending by 2030. In the month of May only, we have crossed the mark of 15 per cent ethanol blending.

The former Indian diplomat was reinstated as the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, the same post he was holding in the previous Modi government.

A 1974 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Puri had served as the Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations from 2009 to 2013.

Puri joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in January 2014 and became a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh in November 2020. Earlier in May 2019, he had taken charge as the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing and Urban Affairs and Civil Aviation and Minister of State for Commerce and Industry. (ANI)