Allow state-run buses to shift to green fuel: Assocham to UP CM

Industry body Assocham has knocked on the door of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to allow transition of state-owned buses to environment-friendly fuel such as ethanol from traditional ones like petrol and diesel.

"Uttar Pradesh is India's largest producer of ethanol for blending with petrol after Maharashtra. As such, the state should promote use of cleaner-burning fuel from sugarcane as the move would result in twin benefits of reducing dependence on crude oil imports and carbon emissions," Assocham national Secretary General, D S Rawat, said in a release here today.

Second generation (2G) ethanol can be made using all types of agricultural residues like bagasse (cane-waste), rice and wheat straw, bamboo, cotton stalk, corn stover, wood chips and others.

Even Union Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari had discussed a similar idea with the UP chief minister, Rawat pointed out.

"I had proposed to the UP chief minister to promote use of ethanol as an alternative fuel in all types of bus services in the state, be it within cities or regional transport from district to district, as UP leads India in ethanol production," Gadkari had said at an Assocham conference in New Delhi recently.

Additionally, the body has appealed to the chief minister to give priority to improving the condition and use of public transport to discourage people from using their own vehicles as that would help reduce traffic and congestion on roads, accidents and the rising pollution level across the state.

"Even the Union government is laying thrust on use of electric vehicles and green fuel like ethanol and is vigorously working towards promoting use of cost-effective, import-substitute, pollution-free and indigenous technology," said Rawat.

"Such an initiative would not only help reduce pollution, but will promote industrial development, bring down logistics costs, generate employment, increase economic growth and boost exports," he added.