New Delhi | Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said the government's aim is to accelerate the pace of highway construction to 100 km a day from 38 km/day at present.
Speaking at the Business Today India@100 event, Gadkari said so far this year, the road ministry has awarded highways projects worth Rs 2.5 lakh crore, and by March next year, it will award highways projects worth Rs 10 lakh crore.
"Currently, the pace of National Highways construction in India is 38 km/day. We aim to accelerate the pace of highway construction to 100 km a day. This is our target, whether it will happen next year, I can not say," he said.
The ministry constructed 10,660 km of national highways in 2024-25, 12,349 km in 2023-24 and 10,331 km in 2022-23.
Responding to the growing concern over social media about E20, rolled out by the government, is damaging the vehicle and there is no reduction in fuel cost, Gadkari rejected the claim, saying that the petroleum sector is lobbying against this move.
"I challenge, if anyone has faced difficulty in his vehicle on account of mixing of ethanol in petrol," Gadkari, who is known for his frank views, said.
The minister further said that Pune-based Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) conducts trials and comes up with reports before the government takes a call on ethanol blending.
Currently, Indian vehicles can run on E20 petrol with minor changes to the engine to prevent corrosion and other issues. In 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched petrol blended with 20 per cent ethanol.
The Indian government will introduce guidelines for 27 per cent ethanol blending in petrol by the end of August.
Ethanol, which can be produced from sugarcane, broken rice and other agricultural products, is expected to help reduce India's dependence on foreign oil. India is currently the world's third-largest oil consumer and imports about 88 per cent of its crude oil requirements, making it vulnerable to geopolitical vagaries that can impact crude prices.
Gadkari reiterated that his aim is to make India's automobile industry number one in the world. The size of the Indian automobile industry is now Rs 22 lakh crore.
Presently, the size of the US automobile industry is Rs 78 lakh crore, followed by China (Rs 47 lakh crore) and India (Rs 22 lakh crore).
According to the minister, the automobile industry has created 4.5 crore jobs till now -- the highest in the country.
Gadkari also said the days are not far away when prices of electric vehicles (EVs) will be less than those of petrol vehicles in the country within six months.
The minister also said India's logistics cost will come down to 9 per cent by December this year.
In China, the logistics cost is 8 per cent, and in the US and European countries, it is 12 per cent, the minister said.
Gadkari also emphasised the need to increase the productivity of the agriculture sector.