Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Friday laid out his vision for Indian automobile industry and electric vehicles in next five years. He said his aim was to make the Indian automobile industry number one in the world, for export of electric vehicles, in five years time.
Gadkari said presently India’s automobile industry’s turnover was ₹7.5 lakh crore. “Within five years our it will be more than 15 lakh crore and this is the industry which is generating the highest number of jobs, exports and revenue to state and central governments,” he said while speaking at the first edition of Ananthkumar memorial lecture virtually.
The minister said his vision and commitment is to make the Indian automobile industry number one in the world for export of electric car, scooter, buses, auto rickshaw and trucks, in five years. “Our aim is to increase exports, reduce imports and at the same time we are cautious about ecology and environment. The three important pillars of Indian society are economy, ethics, and ecology and environment. Keeping this in mind we want to make India, number one economy in the world,” he added.
Gadkari also talked about government’s plans to promote LNG, Green Hydrogen from wastewater, ethanol, electric vehicles and flex engines. He also appealed to people to buy vehicles with electric or flex engines (where one can use hundred percent petrol or ethanol), which will help in controlling the pollution.
The minister said that the government’s first priority was to water ways, second was to railway, third for road and fourth aviation, “but unfortunately now, 90% of the passenger traffic is on road and 70% of goods traffic is on road”.
“When I took charge as the Minister, the national highway was 96,000 km and presently we have 1,47,000 km, at that time the speed of the national highway construction was 2 km per day and now it is 38 km per day. We are now the highest in the world as far as the road construction of national highways is concerned.”
Gadkari cited the examples of highway road work being completed in a record time and said that India is ahead in road construction. “My mission, my target is to make Indian roads, of US- standard within three years,” he added.
Source: livemint.com
