India
oi-Ashish Rana
Union Road Transport and Highways Minsiter Nitin Gadkari is in the discussions and controversies these days for E20 Petrol. While he is being criticised all over social media for the use of Ethanol in petrol, he is all set to introduce ‘flying buses’ in India. Nitin Gadkari announced that he is planning to improve transport in Indian cities by using ‘flying buses’.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari announced plans for electric ‘flying buses’ to improve urban transport, while also defending E20 Petrol against misinformation, stating it reduces import dependence and emissions with no proven vehicle damage.
He made the announcement in the inauguration of Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway, he also took time to address the E20 controversy and said that there’s no evidence of E20 Petrol damaging the vehicles.
Gadkari Unveils ‘Flying Buses’ Vision
In the inauguration event, Gadkari said that the new transport planning of flying buses will help people travel faster across the cities and will reduce traffic congestion. He said that his ministry is finding all the solutions to make more options of travel by electricity.
“Soon, I am going to introduce flying buses. I have already brought seaplanes that can land on water. I even landed one in the sea myself. Under my ministry, I will develop a Mass Rapid Transport System powered by electricity. It will enable people to travel from one corner to another so quickly that they won’t even realize how fast they reached,” Gadkari said.
He said that this transport progress will help urban travel faster and more easy as the cities are continuously growing.
Minister Defends E20 Petrol
Gadkari is in the controversies these days and being criticised for using E20 petrol which contains 20 percent ethanol in the petrol. There is discussions going in social media that vehicles are getting affected and mileage are being reduced.
Gadkari while rejecting all the claims said, “There is no case of any car facing issues due to E20 petrol. Has there been any car in the country that faced issues due to the use of E20 petrol? Just name one.”
‘False Narratives Are Being Spread’
Gadkari said that false narrative social media campaign are running to create misinformation and diverting public. “…false narratives are being spread about the roll-out of higher ethanol-blended petrol. These are paid campaigns,” he said.
He said that India nearly spends 22 Lakhs crore importing fuel and including Ethanol will reduce the dependence on crude oil. This will also help lowering carbon emissions.
Hydrogen Also Part of Clean Mobility Push
Not just Ethanol, Gadkari also said hydrogen is the future of clean transportation. He said that he himself uses alternative fuel vehicles and asks people to use it and experience these technologies.
Ethanol which is being made using biomass such as sugarcane, corn and rice is being used 20 percent in India. The government says that they are planning to increase it in future as it will make India less dependant fuel imports.
