1% sustainable aviation fuel use to be mandatory from 2025: Gadkari

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, during a press conference in New Delhi today, said by 2025, there'll be a mandate to use 1% sustainable aviation fuel, with plans to escalate to 5% blending in India in the future.

Gadkari says he is a strong proponent of creating an "ethanol economy" and that he's pushing for a large-scale up-take of ethanol to boost agricultural growth by 6%.

"The objective is to make ethanol economy of ₹2 lakh crore...the launch of world’s first BS-6 compliant flex fuel strong hybrid vehicle in Delhi, flex engines will be operating on 100% ethanol and the savings will surpass ₹1 lakh crore for the economy," says Gadkari.

There have been major advancements in bio-ethanol production technologies, says the minister. "...1 tonne of rice can yield around 400 to 450 liters of ethanol."

He also announced that the state-owned public sector unit Indian Oil is establishing a plant in Panipat, with a capacity to produce 87,000 tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel.

On diversifying sustainable fuel usage, Gadkari says ethanol as a fuel for diesel generators that power telecom towers offers a sustainable alternative. "The market has already developed a generator set on 100% ethanol," says the minister.

Notably, the telecom sector operates around 6 lakh mobile towers. These towers are generally reliant on diesel generator sets for power, with one tower consuming around 8,000 liters of diesel annually. It results in a staggering consumption of 250 crore liters of diesel, costing around ₹25,000 crore every year.

The Union minister also talks about hydrogen as a fuel for the future, which can help India become a net exporter of energy.

On making the country clean and garbage-free, the minister says under the ongoing 'Swachta hi Seva' fortnight, several programs including cleanliness drives along national highways, wayside amenities, dhabas, and toll plazas have been planned at 13000 locations, and work has been completed in almost 7000 locations.

On the management of solid waste, he says about 10,000 hectares of land is locked in dump sites, and that efforts are on to use urban solid waste in highway construction.

In August, during the launch of the world's first prototype of the BS 6 Stage II 'Electrified Flex Fuel Vehicle' developed by Toyota Kirloskar Motor, the minister said the day the ethanol economy grows at over ₹2 lakh crore, the agriculture growth rate will then go up to 20% from the current 12%.

Notably, India is importing fossil fuels worth ₹16 lakh crore, which is such a huge problem from an economic point of view. In India, 40% of the overall pollution is because of the usage of fossil fuels.