Rise in petrol prices agitating people: Road transport minister Gadkari

Road transport minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the country’s first commercial liquified natural gas (LNG) filling station in Nagpur on Sunday and said more use of alternate fuels such as LNG, CNG or ethanol would bring respite from surging petrol prices, which are now “agitating” people.

Gadkari said the use of ethanol as vehicle fuel would help save at least Rs 20 per litre despite its lower calorific value compared to petrol. His ministry is likely to announce a policy for flex-fuel engines soon, which will encourage automobile manufacturers to produce them. These engines can run on more than one fuel and also a mixture of fuels.

The minister said indigenous fuels such as ethanol, methanol and bio-CNG would give tough competition to imported crude oil and that’s the only way to get the best price for consumers.