Gadkari calls for petrol-import substitutes

Road Transport and Highways Minister, Nitin Gadkari, has called for an urgent need to have alternate fuels for the public transport system in the country.

Speaking at the ‘MOVE: Global Mobility Summit 2018’ in New Delhi, Gadkari urged the automobile industry to focus their research and innovation efforts on alternative fuels in the public transport sector.

Private vehicles are proliferating rapidly on Indian roads and highways expansion cannot feasibly keep pace with this growth, he pointed out.

“We, therefore, need to encourage people to shift to public transport, and for this we have to put in place systems that are efficient and convenient, comfortable and safe,” he stressed.

Gadkari further emphasized the need to bring down the huge cost of petroleum imports that the country bears and reiterated his appeal to the automobile sector to shift to electricity or alternate fuels like ethanol, methanol, bio-diesel or hybrid.

He assured the automobile companies that the government was committed to developing all kinds of fuels, anything that brought import-substitution, was cost effective, environment friendly and indigenous.

The minister also appealed to the industry to explore inland waterways and coastal shipping as alternate and cheaper means of transportation.

He said the ongoing Jal Marg Vikas project on River Ganga was readying the river for transport, and this route, which will link further to Brahmaputra, will make it possible to transport goods from India right up to Bangladesh and Myanmar through waterways.

He called upon automobile companies to use this route for transporting their vehicles.

Industry captains at the summit, held 6-7 Sept 2018, deliberated on the challenges and opportunities that their companies faced with regard to the mobility sector in India.

Gadkari also chaired the session on Reinventing Public Transport at the Summit, appealing to stakeholders to give highest emphasis on introducing cost effective and pollution free public transport systems based on new technology.

He invited the industry to invest in water transport.

While highways are carrying about 40% of total traffic and highway construction has picked up speed, the last mile connectivity still remains a matter of concern, added Road Transport and Highways Secretary Yudhvir Singh Malik

The two-day Global Mobility Summit has been organized by Niti Ayog in New Delhi as a platform to rethink and deliberate upon ways to move people and goods more efficiently.

Meanwhile, Gadkari will lay the foundation stone and dedicate to the nation various National Highways projects worth Rs.4,239 crore in Chhattisgarh on 10 Sept 2018.

He will lay the foundation stone of 92-km Raipur–Durg Bypass on NH 53 which will cost Rs.2,281 crore, while four flyovers on this section will be built at the cost of Rs.349 crore.

Gadkari will dedicate to the nation 150-km long Aarang–Saraipali Road on NH 53 which has been built at the cost of Rs.1,472 crore and widening of 27-km Raipur–Durg Road on NH 53 at a cost of Rs.48 crore. fiinews.com