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Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Monday called for greater diversification of agriculture towards the energy and power sectors, saying India needs to expand the use of indigenous alternative fuels to reduce its dependence on fossil fuel imports, which cost the country around Rs 22 lakh crore.
Speaking after inaugurating the Enrich 2026 Experience Zone at KPMG's Energy and Resources Forum, Gadkari said the use of ethanol, compressed biogas (CBG), green hydrogen and other alternative fuels could strengthen India's energy security while creating additional income opportunities for farmers. "Our policy is import substitute, cost effective, pollution free and indigenous," he said, adding that agriculture could play a larger role in meeting the country's energy requirements. Highlighting the progress in ethanol blending, Gadkari said around four crore four-wheelers and 20 crore two-wheelers were using E20 fuel. He also said he would launch a Toyota Innova flex-fuel vehicle capable of running on 100 per cent bioethanol. He said automobile manufacturers, including Tata, Mahindra, Toyota, Suzuki and Hyundai, were working on flex-fuel vehicles, while ethanol could be produced using corn, broken rice, sugarcane juice, molasses and bamboo. On biogas, the minister said around 3,000 compressed biogas plants had been registered under the government's Gobardhan scheme, of which 280 had started operations. He highlighted the potential of using agricultural residue, particularly rice straw, to produce bio-CNG instead of burning it. Gadkari also called for greater research into green hydrogen, saying the government was working towards reducing its production cost from around USD 5 per kg to USD 1 per kg. He said India had received an order to export 5 lakh tonnes of hydrogen. The minister further highlighted the potential of converting agricultural residue into bio-bitumen for road construction, noting that India consumes around 125 lakh tonnes of bitumen annually, with nearly half supplied through imports. He said diversification towards alternative fuels could create employment in rural and tribal areas while reducing the country's import dependence. Gadkari said technologies adopted in the energy sector must be proven, affordable and commercially viable, adding that India should work across multiple alternative fuel options rather than depend on a single source. (ANI)
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