The 1,300-km-long Mumbai-Delhi Electric Highway, to be built at an investment of ₹1,03,000 crore, would become operational by January 2024, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said.
Speaking at an event organised by TVS Motors Company here on Saturday, the Minister said the government could achieve a saving of ₹16,000 crore in land acquisition by routing the e-highway through villages where free land portions were available.
Continuing his push for an electric environment in the country, the Minister said oil imports currently cost the country ₹7 lakh crore per annum and on top of it, burning fuel caused a lot of pollution.
According to Mr. Gadkari, the country's auto industry, which directly and indirectly employs over 2 crore people, has a turnover of ₹4,50,000 crore.
“I am glad to see auto makers responding to the call we have been making for electric vehicles. The country has a surplus of electricity now and therefore we need to have EV buses, EV cars, EV trucks, EV bikes and EV scooters. We will have 10,000 EV buses this year.”
He said the government has an increased focus on alternate fuels like CNN, biofuel and others. “In Nagpur, we are currently running 100 buses on methane generated from sewage water. We will run another 400 buses here on biofuel,” the Minister said.
Mr. Gadkari said the government was also exploring jatropha-based biofuel for fighter jets. Currently, the government imports aviation turbine fuel worth ₹40,000 crore a year. “All these natural and biofuel based energy generation activities will create employment and income opportunities for a large number of farmers and tribals in India,” the Minister further said.
