Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday called for accelerating the production of alternative fuels to reduce India’s dependence on imported fossil fuels, which cost the country around Rs 22 lakh crore annually, Mint reported.
Speaking at ENRich 2026, a KPMG event, Gadkari said the government is promoting indigenous and cost-effective energy sources, including ethanol, compressed biogas (CBG), hydrogen and other biofuels, amid volatility in global energy markets.
Highlighting the progress of ethanol blending, he said around 40 million four-wheelers and 200 million two-wheelers are using E20 fuel. He also said he would launch a Toyota Innova capable of running on 100% bioethanol this month, while major automakers, including Tata Motors, Mahindra, Toyota, Suzuki and Hyundai, are developing flex-fuel vehicles.
The government is also exploring a 15% isobutanol blend in diesel, with trials being conducted by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), and a 2% biofuel blend in aviation turbine fuel (ATF).
On CBG, Gadkari said around 3,000 plants have been registered under the biomass-to-energy programme, of which nearly 280 have started operations. The initiative aims to convert agricultural residue, including rice straw, into fuel and provide an alternative to stubble burning. Five tonnes of rice straw can produce around one tonne of bio-CNG, he said.
He also highlighted the potential of converting carbon dioxide and hydrogen into urea, producing bio-bitumen from agricultural residue and waste materials, and expanding green hydrogen use in transport. The ministry plans to introduce hydrogen filling stations along 10 highway routes to support trials involving heavy commercial vehicles.
Gadkari said electric vehicles, battery technology, solar-powered charging infrastructure and energy storage would also play an important role in reducing fossil fuel consumption.
He said India’s broader objective is to move from being an energy importer to a producer of indigenous fuels and technologies, creating investment and employment opportunities in rural, agricultural and tribal communities.
