Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday asserted that finding and using cost-effective fuels, that are also economically viable, is imperative to reduce pollution caused by vehicles. He was speaking here at the inauguration of ‘Green Hydrogen Conclave.’
Gadkari said that alternative fuels like bio-CNG and green hydrogen not only help in reducing pollution, but also save a lot in fuel cost. India’s potential for green hydrogen is 5 million metric tonnes per year, he informed. He said that it is the responsibility of all the stakeholders to make these fuels available to the people at cost-effective rates and create awareness among common citizens about the necessity of using these fuels.
He said that green hydrogen will not be useful if its cost is high and urged stakeholders to focus on keeping the rates low. In this connection, he added that the Government has taken the initiative to create wealth out of waste that is generated in our lives.
‘’The country is facing two big challenges now, one of which is related to import of fossil fuels amounting to lakhs of crores of rupees which, therefore, poses a big economic challenge to the country. The other challenge is related to curbing pollution. We are facing a very serious problem of air pollution, particularly in the metro cities,’’ he said. He further noted that ‘’These are matters of concern. Not only in India, everywhere in the world people are speak about decarbonization, which is important as far as climate change is concerned.’’
The Union Minister said that the vision of a self-reliant India and a five trillion-dollar economy will be realized as soon as possible if there is more and more production of cost-effective, pollution-free, and environment-friendly indigenous products that provide alternatives to imports and lessens all sorts of pollution in the country. “Our dream is to make India an exporter of energy”, he said.
‘’While we are working very fast on thermal power, hydro power and wind power, we also also have to look at nuclear power, which is a zero-emission clean energy source. Agriculture and energy sectors are the need of the hour,’’he said. He also urged that by linking agriculture with proven technology and the power sector, many jobs can be created.
