India’s Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways pushes for biofuels

July 14, 2019 |

In India, at an event on Friday celebrating the launch of India’s first ethanol based motorcycle, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, spoke of how the use of biofuels, like ethanol and butanol in particular, could help India’s GDP growth and save foreign exchange, according to The Week.

The Week reports that Gadkari said, “Oil imports cost India Rs 7 lakh crores every year, at the same time there is pollution also. But bio-fuels like ethanol and butanol (which can be used in planes) can be extracted from sugar cane and used in vehicles and aircraft. This is time for the country to replace the Rs 40,000 crore we spend on importing aviation petroleum, and replace it with (locally produced) butanol, it is cheaper and standards have already been finalised. Boeing, Bombardier, Airbus all have the capability. This will solve the problems of the aviation industry.”

Gadkari also said at the event that he was going to ask the petroleum ministry to allow ethanol fueling stations at regular pumps, according to The Week.

Category: Policy

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