Ethanol for agriculture and construction use in India: Gadkari

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has stressed that India needs to switch to alternative fuels, he has said that efforts are on to launch ethanol in construction and agriculture equipment.

While speaking at a conference in Pune the minister said that alternative fuels is the future.

The minister further said that diesel-based agriculture equipment should be made petrol-based and flex engines can be converted to run on ethanol, and he further added that efforts are on to introduce ethanol in construction equipment as well.

The minister further stressed the need to shift from sugar production to ethanol. The rise in sugar demand across the globe is temporary. When the price of crude oil goes up to $140 per barrel, Brazil produces ethanol from sugarcane, increasing the demand for sugar from India. When the price of crude oil dips to $70 to $80 per barrel, Brazil starts producing sugar and when crude oil becomes cheaper, sugar prices will also come down drastically.