The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari said today that he believes Hydrogen is the fuel of the future and that Indian vehicles in the future will run on hydrogen and green fuels. “We import Rs. 16 lakh crore worth of fossil fuel every year but soon our farmers will produce green fuel and green hydrogen,” he said. He also stated that India will become a major exporter of Lithium in the near-future which will lead to a decrease in prices of Lithium Ion batteries.
He also seemed pleased with the development of new highways and said “In the coming years, public transport will be revolutionised in the country and the new highways will bring down travel time between key cities drastically.” He stated that his target was to build 60 km of roads every day. He also added that new facilities like helipads and drone pads will be built on the new roads for quick and emergency transport.
The minister however expressed dissatisfaction at the rate of accidents on Indian roads stating that “We wanted to reduce road accidents by 50 per cent by 2024 but we are not going to achieve it,”. He also stated that for accident rates to go down, people should take care and follow rules, wear seatbelts and wear helmets while riding two-wheelers. He also urged people to introduce road safety education at the primary level to make Indians aware about this at a young age.
