Gadkari: Farmers will have to become fuel producers to reduce biofuel import

Time of India

2 days ago

Pune: Stressing on the need to increase the biofuel production to make India self-sufficient, Union minister of road transport and highways
Nitin Gadkari
on Monday said the country's farmers would have to produce it.
He said, "Indian farmers will have to be encouraged to become fuel producers, along with food producers, to reduce the burden of biofuel import," he said, addressing the 10th anniversary of the World Biofuel Day event organised by Praj Industries in the city on Monday. Founder chairman of Praj Industries Pramod Chaudhary and managing director of Kirloskar Brothers Sanjay Kirloskar were present at the event.
Lauding the efforts of the automobile industry in the country's development, Gadkari said surpassing Japan, India had become the third biggest automobile producer in the world and it gave maximum revenue to the country.
But the minister reminded the audience that the industry was also contributing to air pollution.
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"Nearly 40% of the air pollution is because of motor transport. We are still not being serious about its ill-effects. Along with economic development, we also need to balance our ecology, and for that, biofuel will play the most important role in the coming years," Gadkari said.
The minister said India was still heavily dependent on the import of biofuel.
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"India has to import biofuel worth Rs22 lakh crore per annum. If we encourage the production of biofuel in the country, it will not only address the ecological issue but also reduce the economic burden on the country," he said.
Gadkari stressed on the need to increase the agriculture sector's share in the Indian economy to improve the rural economy. He said, "While the country's economy is growing, the situation of the rural sector is deteriorating.
Nearly 60 to 65% of the population is still dependent on agriculture, but its share in the Indian economy is merely 12 to 14%. If we want to achieve the goal of becoming the third largest economy, the agriculture sector will have to contribute 22 to 24%.
The govt has adopted a policy of diversification of the agriculture sector to promote power and energy generation."
He said, "Today we have ample production of agricultural produce, but farmers are not getting the desired remuneration. If we utilise the production for creating biofuel, it will help farmers to get more money and change the rural economy.
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