Draft policies on coal-based urea, ethanol in 3 weeks: Gadkari

Ministries of Chemical and Fertilizer and New and Renewable Energy will come out with the draft policies for manufacturing of coal-based urea and second generation ethanol in three weeks, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari today said.

"We want to manufacture coal-based urea in the country as presently we are providing Rs 45,000 crore as subsidy on urea.

Also, we want to promote second generation ethanol. A unanimous decision was taken that Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and Chemicals Fertilizers will come out with the policies," Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Gadkari said.

After chairing an inter-ministerial meeting attended by Coal Minister Piyush Goyal, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, Chemical and Fertilizer Minister Ananth Kumar, Science and Technology Minster Harsh Vardhan among others, Gadkari said the draft policies will be ready in three months and will be sent to the Cabinet.

Gadkari said once urea manufacturing from coal begins, urea prices will be slashed by 50 per cent.

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He said that earlier the country faced shortage of coal but now there is surplus coal and urea plant based on gas from coal could easily be set up.

He said coal based urea production technology for producing urea was common in South Africa, China, USA etc countries and once India started manufacturing, farmers will get a huge relief.

The Minister also said based on promotion to second generation ethanol the government planned to take up ethanol blending in petrol to 22.5 percent and in diesel to 15 percent.

"If we start making ethanol from bamboo in North-East, lakhs will get employment and several industries will come up," he said.

The minister said recently he saw such successful industries in Italy and as per rough estimates 40,000 litres of second generation ethanol could be produced here easily.

He said boost to ethanol production could cut India's huge crude oil imports bill, which is pegged at Rs 7 lakh crore per annum.

Citing the example of flex-fuel cars in Brazil, Gadkari said India was also on the way to promote such vehicles as this could minimise pollution.

To augment supplies of ethanol to oil marketing companies (OMCs) under EBP, the policy for procurement of ethanol has been modified to smoothen the entire ethanol supply chain to provide remunerative price of ethanol.

In December 2014, the Cabinet had approved usage of non-food feedstocks besides molasses as source of ethanol to be used for blending in fuel.