Union Minister Nitin Gadkari Calls Out Paid Campaigns Against E20 Petrol

At the 65th annual SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers) Conference, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways called out the paid campaigns against the E20 - ethanol-blended fuel. The minister cited that the paid campaigns are targeting me, and they are also defaming the complete blending exercise. Gadkari also quoted the benefits that the country's ethanol blending programme has offered to farmers and end users.

The ethanol blending programme has helped corn farmers with a Rs 45,000 crore profit, further diversifying their income, over the regular crop yields. This has perhaps helped the country reduce its fossil imports, while adding to the increased exports because of biofuel.

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He further talked about vehicle scrapping, as over 3 lakh vehicles went under the knife in August. In fact, 1 lakh government vehicles have been scrapped. Gadkari highlighted that, on average 16,830 vehicles are being scrapped monthly, bringing down 16 lakh tons of metal imports. Moreover, it has helped in the re-utilization of raw materials by 33 per cent.