Reducing pollution will be biggest challenge in future Nitin Gadkari

New Delhi, Nov 4 (PTI) Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said that reducing pollution in the country will be the biggest challenge in the future.

    Addressing 'EV Ecosystem Awards and the launch of Swiggy Instamart's EV Battery Swapping Network', Gadkari further said that India is trying to become self-reliant in the production of electric vehicles, as the cost of operating EVs is less than that of vehicles run on fossil fuels.

    "Pollution is a major problem. You know how high the pollution level is in Delhi today...in the future, reducing pollution in the country will be the biggest challenge," he said.

    Delhi's air quality was in the 'very poor' category again on Wednesday, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) at 379, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

    Gadkari also said there is a need to reduce fossil fuel imports and encourage EVs to cut the import bill of Rs 22 lakh crore and reduce pollution.

    "To create employment potential is the most important agenda of the government," the minister said.

    Gadkari said state-owned NHAI has set a target to install 700 charging stations over the next two years and also claimed that by next year, at least 35-40 per cent of cars sold will be electric.

    He said the government's aim is to make India's automobile industry number one in the world. "When I took charge as transport minister, the size of the Indian automobile industry was Rs 14 lakh crore. The size of the Indian automobile industry is now Rs 22 lakh crore...and the mission for all of us is to make this industry number one in the world," Gadkari said.

    Presently, the size of the US automobile industry is Rs 78 lakh crore, followed by China (Rs 47 lakh crore) and India (Rs 22 lakh crore). He said Toyota Motor Corporation will launch Innova's flex-fuel model on November 26 that can run on E100 (nearly pure ethanol). The minister said green hydrogen is the future and India can become a net exporter of clean hydrogen.

     Last month, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) notified changes to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, allowing flex-fuel vehicles that can run on E100 (nearly pure ethanol).

     E100 fuel allows vehicles to run on nearly pure ethanol. Flex-fuel vehicles are designed to run on higher ethanol blends such as E85 (85 per cent ethanol, 15 per cent petrol) and E100 (near 100 per cent ethanol), unlike conventional petrol vehicles currently approved for lower ethanol concentrations.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)