New Delhi: Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, on Friday made the case for ethanol as a way to put more money in farmers' hands. He also presented it as a way to shrink the petroleum import bill, which he put at around Rs 22 lakh crore. He spoke after he and Chief Minister Mohan Yadav inaugurated Madhya Pradesh's new public bus service. "Today, the farmer is not only our 'anna data' (food provider) but also our 'urja data' (energy provider)," Gadkari said.
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Maize growers have already felt the difference, according to Gadkari. Before ethanol production started, a quintal of maize fetched about Rs 1,200, he said. The price has since climbed to Rs 2,600. "This is the meaning of swadeshi, self-reliance and independence," he said.
Gadkari sees ethanol as one part of a wider move away from imported fuel. Electricity, hydrogen and other alternatives all have a part to play in cutting that dependence, he said. For ethanol, work is under way on flex-fuel engines that can burn 100 percent ethanol. Vehicles built around those engines will follow, he said.
Electric mobility is getting a government push too. Tractors that run on electricity are already available, Gadkari said, and work continues on hydrogen-powered vehicles. The minister uses one himself. "I travel in a hydrogen vehicle. Its name is Mirai, which means future," he said. Ten routes are due to get hydrogen buses, he added. He said cleaner fuels would bring down pollution as well as the import bill without any cost to safety.
Gadkari also presented waste as a source of fuel. In Nagpur, waste is being turned into 28 tonnes of compressed natural gas (CNG) every day, he said. Across the country, some 4,000 projects of the same kind are under way. He said farmers stand to earn extra income from them, while India would import less and pollute less.
Madhya Pradesh has run its own buses before. That state-run service lost money and eventually closed, Gadkari said. The new one works on a different model and uses technology to keep operations safe, economical and accountable. Its main purpose, he said, is to give poorer sections of society transport that is secure, affordable and accountable to them.
"Poor people should get facilities. They should get better facilities in AC buses and the ticket fare should be 30 percent lower than that of diesel buses. This is our dream," he said.
Gadkari said the service is meant to improve transport for the poor and to let the gains of development reach the very bottom of society. Friday was also the birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, and Gadkari invoked his social philosophy. Upadhyaya's thinking is identified with "antyodaya", he said, meaning the uplift of the person who stands last at the base of society.
Pollution is another reason Gadkari wants more people on buses. Transport is a major contributor, responsible for roughly 40 percent of India's air pollution by his estimate. He said the job of fixing that was his. The government wants public transport to win over many more users across the country, he said.
Several steps are planned to make buses safer and better built. Before a bus can be registered, it will now have to clear tougher tests, Gadkari said. Buses will also be redesigned so that senior citizens and persons with disabilities can board with less difficulty. Owners are being encouraged to scrap old vehicles, and more scrapping and testing centres are opening. Madhya Pradesh does not have enough trained drivers, so 32 driving centres have opened in the state to fill the gap.
By Gadkari's count, India has about two buses for every 1,000 people, a quarter of the eight it needs. The Centre's PM e-Bus Sewa scheme provides for 10,000 buses at an outlay of Rs 57,000 crore, he said. According to him, it should generate 45 lakh to 55 lakh jobs. So far, sanctions have been issued for 972 buses.
The government has a bigger goal as well. It wants two lakh buses built within three years and India established as the leading force in the global automobile industry, Gadkari said. The Indian automobile sector has already moved from seventh place in the world to third, he said, getting there by pulling ahead of Japan.
Gadkari also credited a 2019 change in motor vehicle rules with creating work. Since that amendment, people who own private vehicles have been allowed to use them as taxis. "These small decisions have created four crore jobs," he said. Cars account for 1.2 crore of those drivers, he said. Two-wheelers account for 2.5 crore and autorickshaws for 55 lakh.
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Just three states have put the provision into effect, Gadkari said. He said nationwide adoption could create as many as 12 crore jobs. "Providing employment to the unemployed is the most important task in the country today. If all states implement this, 12 crore employment opportunities will be created," he said. If Madhya Pradesh came on board, 40 lakh to 50 lakh jobless people in the state could earn a dignified living, he said.
