New Delhi [India], October 13 (ANI): Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has emphasised on the adoption of alternative fuels which will be import substitutes, cost-effective, pollution-free, and indigenous and discouraged the use of petrol or diesel as a fuel.

Addressing the 'Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA)' Conference on 'Alternative fuel- Road ahead' the Union Minister said that the biggest benefit of Bioethanol as an alternative fuel is that it is a clean fuel with very low greenhouse gas emissions.

"The additional income that is generated is directly diverted to the farmers, which empowers the rural and backward economy. Looking at the ethanol production capacity and its adaptability as a fuel, the government has redesigned and launched the E-20 fuel program which will ensure the use of bio-ethanol in a 20 per cent blend with Petrol by 2025 in India," he said, according to the release by the Ministry of Road TransportHighways.

Gadkari said that the government has also calculated that to achieve 20 per cent ethanol blending, the country will require around 10 billion litres of ethanol by 2025. Currently, the sugar industry contributes to 90 per cent of ethanol demand as a blended fuel in the country, he said.

Speaking further, the minister said to find ways to increase ethanol production with available resources and one such proposal is to add 15 per cent to 20 per cent sugar into B-Heavy Molasses.

"This will have multiple benefits as it will utilise an excess stock of around 45 to 60 Lakh Metric Tonnes of Sugar and will improve the ethanol recovery by 30 per cent due to better quality of raw material," he said.

On similar lines, the production of C-Heavy Molasses from sugar can be discouraged which will standardise the production of B-Heavy Molasses and will permanently lead to lesser production of sugar by 1.5 per cent per Metric Tonne of Sugarcane, he added.

"All of these steps will increase the production of ethanol and can lead to a scenario where excess availability of ethanol in one state can be transported to ethanol-deficient states such as the North-East and Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh.

Bioethanol can also be a sustainable fuel for aviation purposes as it can provide 80 per cent savings on greenhouse gas emissions and can be blended up to 50 per cent with conventional jet fuels without any modification," the minister said.

Gadkari said it is already been tested and approved by the Indian air force. He said with the rollout of flex-fuel vehicles on 100 per cent bio-ethanol, the demand for ethanol will immediately jump by 4 to 5 times. (ANI)