Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways has urged automobile manufacturers to focus on alternate fuels and flex engines and avert the production and sales of diesel engines in India.
While addressing SIAM’s 61st Annual Convention, Gadkari said, “I appeal to vehicle manufacturers to discourage the production and sale of diesel engine vehicles. Industry must promote alternative fuel technologies. We should be committed to delivering vehicles with flex engines that give the users an option to run a vehicle on 100% ethanol, petrol, or 100% bioethanol. We have been promoting electric mobility and creating a sustainable ecosystem for EVs in the country.”
India imports INR 8 lakh crore worth of crude oil and this is going to double in the next four to five years, which will have a huge impact on the economy and environment, the minister pointed out.
The government is promoting the adoption of cleaner and greener alternative fuels, like ethanol methanol, biodiesel, bio CNG, LNG, electric, and green hydrogen and fuel cell technology to reduce dependency on petrol and diesel.
Citing examples of the US, Brazil and Canada, Gadkari added that flex-engine based vehicles are already running in foreign markets and few of these brands are present in India. He assured that the government is determined to roll out ethanol pumps within the next six months in India.
During his speech, he applauded the auto sector's contribution to the overall GDP and manufacturing GDP in India, and also appreciated the progress made by the automobile industry by leapfrogging from BS IV to BS VI emission norms in a short time frame.
He also mentioned that the government realises the potential of the auto sector and it aims to increase the contribution of the automobile sector from 7.1% in GDP to 12% and generate about 50 million new jobs. The government is working towards making the country the world’s largest manufacturing hub in the coming years, the minister said.