Future mobility must be sustainable in economy, ecology and environment: Gadkari

New Delhi: The government is progressing on the policy of adopting import substitutes, cost-effective, pollution-free and indigenous fuels for the transport sector, said Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari.

Speaking at a FICCI conference on Future of Mobility: India’s Journey towards Net Zero, the minister underlined the steps taken by the government to facilitate the use of ethanol, methanol, bio-CNG, bio-LNG electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, and hydrogen fuel cells, while constantly revising emission norms to reduce pollution.

Gadkari also alluded to “making farmers as Urjadata along with Annadata”. He cited an IISC project that successfully demonstrated hydrogen production using biomass. This technology has the potential to transform the rural economy in India completely, the minister said and added, “in this model, the farmers can produce green hydrogen and supply that as a fuel to heavy-duty buses and trucks.”

The minister highlighted flex engines which can fully run on bioethanol or petrol as another opportunity to “increase agriculture income”.

“I have given a target to the auto industry to develop India’s first BS-VI compliant flex engine and launch it in India,” Gadkari added. The minister underlined a Russian technology that successfully managed “managed to make the average of ethanol equal to petrol”.

Gadkari emphasised using bio-CNG as a vehicular fuel. He highlighted that bio-CNG is a cheaper and less polluting substitute over diesel, noting the availability of surplus rice ‘parali’ for conversion into bio-CNG. “Five tonnes of rice straw gives one tonne of bio CNG,” he said.

The minister underscored the plans to make an electric highwa”. “We have a meeting with a scientific adviser of the Prime Minister, and we are planning to make the e-highway from Delhi to Jaipur as a private pilot project by which we can use electric buses, trucks, trolleys, buses and reduce the logistics costs,” he added.