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Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said automobile companies will start manufacturing flex-fuel vehcile variants with six months and that soon most vehicles in India will run on 100% ethanol. Flex-fuel, or flexible fuel, is an alternative fuel with a combination of gasoline and methanol or ethanol.
The union government is enabling the use of various alternate fuels in an effort to shift from fossil fuels. In order to accelerate the introduction of flex-fuel vehicles, a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme has included automobile and auto components and auto components of flex-fuel engines.
NITI Aayog, after acknowledging the strong foundation for the ethanol blending programme (EBP), has formulated the roadmap for ethanol blending for the period, 2020-2025.
Speaking at 'ET Global Business Summit,' Gadkari said companies like TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto have already started producing flex-fuel engines for their two and three-wheelers.
Gadkari also said the government is working to encourage the use of green hydrogen and other alternative fuels.
"But at the same time you understand, presently we are using maximum petrol and diesel, and the international scenario is not good. We are facing crucial problems because there is a war between Russia and Ukraine and I feel that it is really a big challenge," he said.
Speaking on pace of construction of national highways, the union minister road transport and highways said the government is targetting a pace of 50 km per day for national highways.
Gadkari said due to Covid-induced disruptions, construction of national highways faced some problems. "Now, we want to go up to (construct) 50 km per day (highway)," he said.
The pace of national highway (NH) construction in the country touched a record 37 km per day in 2020-21.
