The government will better its own world records in highway construction this month itself, said road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari, pledging a target of more than 50 km a day.

Infrastructure projects undertaken by his ministry have been feted in the recent state polls, Gadkari said at the Economic Times Global Business Summit (GBS) on Saturday. The ministry has already set three world records, including 38 km of highway construction per day, Gadkari said.

“Now we want to go up to 50 km per day,” he said. “Before March 2022, last year’s record will be bettered. There are some issues regarding land acquisition due to Covid-19 but we will try to make the record higher than last year.”

India will soon have a car running on green hydrogen and automobile manufacturers have committed to produce flexible-fuel vehicles optimised for domestic requirements in six months, Gadkari said in a conversation with ET’s Bodhisatva Ganguli at the seventh edition of GBS held virtually.

Demand for Ethanol

“After the election, everyone was talking about the excellent infrastructure developed by the government under the Prime Minister’s leadership, in Uttarakhand,” he said, noting that the government does not discriminate against anybody on the political level.

Commenting on the outcome of assembly election results in which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has emerged victorious in four of the five states that went to the polls, Gadkari said that they are an indication of the people’s mind.

“Indian politics previously was dominated by three Cs – caste, criminal and cash,” he said. “But this election indicates that people are committed and giving vote, not on the basis of caste, religion, language, and sex, but for development.”

The minister said he had spoken with the heads of all major automobile manufacturers on flexi-fuel engines.

“They have promised me that they will manufacture flex engines and that they are all in the process,” he said. “The automobile manufacturers have assured me that they (will) make the required changes within six months and will be ready.”

Gadkari said that the ideal next stage would be an electric hybrid flex engine.

“This means that it will be run on 100% bio-ethanol; in emergency, it will run on 100% petrol. And at the same time, 40% will run on electricity. This is to be a win-win combination,” Gadkari said. “Hyundai, Suzuki, and Toyota, all have promised me that they are in the process. But Toyota is making a hybrid-electric flex engine and it will be launched within six months.”

According to Gadkari, these new cars will boost demand for ethanol in the country 10-fold. “Presently, we are manufacturing 400 crore litres of ethanol and now after flex engine, our requirement will be 4,000 crore litres,” he said.

India’s top two-wheeler makers are ready with their engines.

“The flexi-fuel engine is for two-wheelers. Bajaj, TVS, and Hero have already manufactured the flex engine. The choice is that the consumer can use 100% petrol or 100% bio-ethanol,” he added.

Listing the achievements of the roads ministry, Gadkari said, “We have now already made three world records. The first is 38 km of highway construction per day, the highest in the world. The second is constructing 2.5 km of four-lane cement concrete road within 24 hours on Delhi-Mumbai express highway in Vadodara. A third record is making 26 km single-lane road in 22 hours in Solapur-Bijapur section.”

Gadkari said he will be launching a pilot project for green hydrogen in the national capital. “The car is from Toyota, and the green hydrogen is from Indian Oil (research and development centre), Faridabad,” the minister said. “This will be the first car running on Indian roads through green hydrogen.”