 "Nitin Gadkari")
Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said that the Centre's mission is to increase the turnover of the automobile industry to Rs 15 lakh crore within the next five years.
"The current turnover of the automobile sector of the country is Rs 7.5 lakh crore, out of which Rs 3 crore is export. My aim is to make the auto industry to the volume of Rs 15 lakh crore within the next five year, " Gadkari said as he inaugurated Maruti Suzuki and Toyota Tsusho Group's government-approved scrapping in Greater Noida.
Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the COP26 summit said India is aiming for net zero carbon emissions by 2070.
Gadkari said that for this purpose, the government was encouraging the usage of CNG, LNG, green hydrogen, ethanol fuels and electric vehicles.
"Our current import of fossil fuel is currently Rs 8 lakh crores and it will reach Rs 25 lakh crores in the next five years. We are working constantly on the diversification of agriculture towards energy and power sectors. Flex engines are being used in US, Brazil and Canada, where they use 100 per cent petrol or 100 per cent ethanol. Bioethanol is a fuel that comes from sugarcane and molasses. The government has given permission to make bioethanol from rice, corn and foodgrains. The government has taken the decision to open ethanol pumps just like petrol pumps. It is a win-win situation for all stakeholders. It can help in tackling pollution and it is also good for the tribal, agricultural areas of the country," he added.
He termed the launching of the scrapping unit and the vehicle scrapping policy as 'historic'.
"The vehicle scrapping policy is extremely important for our ecology and economy. It will reduce pollution generated by old vehicles. Through scraping, raw materials like aluminium, steel, copper etc will be available at lower costs which will also reduce the production cost of the vehicle. Raw material costs can be reduced by at least 33 per cent. It will reduce our dependence on imports as we still import materials like aluminium, copper and many other things. The industry's issue of shortage of semi-conductors will be resolved by this policy," he said.
He remarked that the policy will help in converting 'waste' into 'wealth'.
He also said that the vehicle scrapping policy will generate at least 2 lakh jobs directly and will boost the sales of automobiles. "Through the vehicle sales, incremental GST revenue worth Rs 30,000-40,000 lakh crore is also generated, which is beneficial for the government as well," he added.
Gadkari said that the government aims to set up at least 4 scrapping centres in every district, with at least two in backward areas.
Presenting the Union Budget 2021-22, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 announced a voluntary vehicle scrapping policy to phase out old and unfit vehicles under which the personal vehicles will undergo a fitness test in automated centres after 20 years while the commercial vehicles will undergo the test after 15 years.
Talking about green hydrogen production, he said that the government has started a mission to support manufacturers in producing it.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, the occasion of the 75th Independence Day of the country, announced the National Hydrogen Mission with an aim to make India a hub for the production and export of green hydrogen.
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