Time for the country to go for Alternative fuel sources: Nitin Gadkari
On Thursday, October 4, Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Nitin Gadkari said, it is time for the country to go for alternative fuel sources such as ethanol, methanol and biodiesel.
Gadkari was speaking at the inauguration of India Chem 2018 – the 10th Biennial International Exhibitions and Conference – Chemical and Petrochemicals – Advantage India, in Mumbai.
In his speech, Gadkari stressed on the importance of alternate fuels and said that government has decided to increase the production of ethanol and methanol. He said that the government is aiming to reduce the import of ethanol and to increase the export, for that Cabinet has given approval to finance ethanol factories.
Gadkari said that India is doing well in innovation and R&D and a lot of new experiments are happening through which India can work miracles in the world, particularly in petrochemicals.
Minister stressed on the importance of diversification in agriculture towards the needs of the energy and power sector and said that the industry should explore the ways to use agricultural material for making chemicals and petrochemicals and that will be a game changer for the country.
The Home Ministry statement said, quoting the Minister, “New crops have to be identified. The Minister exhorted the industry to explore the possibility of using agricultural material for making chemicals, which he said can be a great game changer for the country”.
The Secretary of Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, P. Raghavendra Rao said that the chemical and petrochemical Industry has been growing at fast rate.
He said, “Chemical industry is growing rapidly due to the positive reforms undertaken by the Government of India. Between 2014 and 2018, net import of chemicals has grown at 5.8% in volume and is projected to reach US$ 304 billion by 2025. Government of India is very conscious of the positive role that the chemical industry plays for the welfare of the society”.
