New Delhi. Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Monday that the research work on mixing 15 percent ethanol in diesel is in the advanced stage and the government is looking for ways to give it priority based on solid evidence. Addressing the Bio-Energy Summit-2024 of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Gadkari said that according to government data, ethanol blending in India has increased from 1.53 percent in 2014 to 15 percent in 2024. The Road Transport and Highways Minister said that inspired by this progress, the government has set an ambitious target of reaching 20 percent blending in petrol by 2025.
He told that Indian Oil has decided to set up 400 ethanol pump stations. “We are also meeting vehicle manufacturers including Suzuki, Tata and Toyota.” He said, “These automakers have decided to introduce flex-engine cars.” According to the minister, other automakers like TVS, Bajaj and Honda are ready with ethanol bikes and are waiting for the arrival of ethanol pumps to launch their bikes. He said that the country has moved from the era of ‘wealth from knowledge’ to the era of ‘wealth from waste’.
Regarding CNG, the minister said, “More than 475 projects in CNG are in the pipeline, and more than 40 projects have already started in Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and other states.” Gadkari stressed the need to explore further technologies for converting municipal solid waste into bio-CNG. In this the cost of raw material becomes zero.
Gadkari said, “At present we are able to use only one-fifth of the stubble, but if we plan properly, we can solve the problem of seasonal air pollution caused by stubble in the next few years.” The minister said that the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) is doing research on how the country’s bitumen import can be reduced by producing bio-bitumen.