Efforts to incorporate ethanol into construction, and agricultural equipment: Gadkari
Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari emphasized the importance of switching to alternative fuels such as ethanol on Saturday, saying that efforts are underway to incorporate ethanol into construction and agricultural equipment.
According to the Union Road Transport and Highways Minister, the country imports petroleum products worth ₹10 lakh crore to meet the needs of the energy and power sectors, and the demand may rise to ₹25 lakh crore in the next five years, affecting the economy.
Also Read | India to overtake China as the world’s third-largest ethanol consumer by 2026.
Gadkari was addressing the Vasantdada Sugar Institute’s state-level Sugar Conference 2022 in Pune. ‘Alternative fuel is the way of the future.’ After electric scooters, automobiles, and buses, electric tractors and trucks will be available soon. ‘I will unveil these soon,’ Gadkari stated.
Diesel-powered agricultural equipment should be switched to gasoline, and flex engines can be modified to run on ethanol, he said, adding that attempts are underway to incorporate ethanol into construction equipment.
Ethanol generation from sugar
‘The growth in sugar consumption across the globe is transient,’ the minister stated, emphasizing the necessity to convert from sugar production to ethanol. When crude oil prices reach $140 per barrel, Brazil generates ethanol from sugarcane, increasing India’s demand for sugar. Brazil begins manufacturing sugar when the price of crude oil falls from $70 to $80 per barrel.’
Sugar prices will fall dramatically when crude oil prices fall, he predicts. Gadkari also requested that Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar install ethanol pumps in Pune to assist farmers in selling the fuel directly.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who addressed the conference remotely, said the state’s sugar producers were experiencing a number of challenges. ‘We must conduct market research in Brazil.’ Brazil conducts surveys and then selects a crop for the following year. As the times change, so should our use of technology. ‘The future is ethanol,’ Thackeray predicted.
Also Read | Delay in signing purchase agreements by OMCs, ethanol projects impeding.
Sugarcane workers are vital, and the Gopinath Ustod Kamgar Mahamandal was founded to assist them in resolving concerns, he stated. The chief minister further stated that because water is a valuable resource and rainfall is unpredictable, producers should explore using micro-irrigation for sugarcane crops.
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