Nitin Gadkari the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, hydrogen is the fuel of the future and will be used in India’s vehicles as well as green fuels.
Although he never mentioned India’s EV targets for the year 2030, he said in his speech at the second Ideas of India Summit, organized by the ABP Network, that India will undoubtedly switch to electric vehicles in the coming years.
“We import Rs. 16 lakh crore worth of fossil fuel every year but pretty soon our farmers will produce green fuel and green hydrogen,” he said adding that Lithium-ion batteries will lead the shift from petrol and diesel-driven cars.
The minister stated that India will soon turn into a major global player and a net exporter of lithium, reiterating that lithium-ion battery costs will decrease within the next year or so.
Gadkari said, “In the coming years, public transportation will be revolutionized in the country and the new highways will drastically reduce travel time between key cities,” expressing his satisfaction with the country’s highway development.
The minister added that the performance audit of the ministers was more significant than the financial audit and expressed confidence that the NDA and BJP will form the government both at the federal level and in Maharashtra following the upcoming elections. He claimed that the government had instilled optimism in the populace, which will spur growth.
However, the minister claimed that his department and the government had failed to reduce the number of accidents on Indian roads. By 2024, he said, “we wanted to reduce traffic accidents by 50%, but we are not going to achieve it.”
He claimed that since people were still disobeying the laws governing red lights, seat belts, and two-wheeler helmets, human behavior must change. To raise awareness of this among Indians at a young age, he urged society to implement road safety education at the primary level.