Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari today said that the biofuels sector has huge potential and will play a major role in India’s agricultural and rural sectors. Mr. Gadkari said that India needs to reduce imports and increase exports to achieve the target of becoming the 3rd largest economy in the world. He made these remarks while inaugurating the India Bio-Energy and Tech Expo 2024 and the International Conference on Bio-Energy and Technologies in New Delhi, alongside Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.                                                        

Mr. Puri emphasized that through the energy program, the government aims to reduce dependence on fuels, save foreign exchange, and ensure a cleaner and self-reliant future. He added that the government is prioritizing ethanol blending, compressed biogas, sustainable aviation fuel, biomass, and waste-to-energy. The minister highlighted that the country’s energy program has been a major success. He informed that the ethanol blending percentage has increased from 1.53 percent in 2014 to 15 percent in 2024. He expressed confidence that ethanol blending will reach 20 percent by October 2025 in the country.