Future fuel in the country is LNG: Nitin Gadkari

Union minister Nitin Gadkari

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on April 26 said that Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is the future fuel in India and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) will encourage flex engines for future, which can run 100 percent on bio ethanol.

In an interaction with CNBC-TV18, Gadkari also spoke about the measures take by the government in the wake of recent electric vehicle (EV) accidents. "We are making standards and regulations to prevent such EV fires," Gadkari said, adding that the ministry has appointed a high level committee to look into this. High temperatures are the reason that are causing fires, he noted.

The minister urged the EV makers to stay cautious while using the battery cells and recall products if there are defects. "There are some problems in the battery cell," Gadkari said.

Speaking about the entry of Tesla into the domestic market, Gadkari said that Elon Musk can sell Tesla cars in India only if he manufactures in India. "He can't manufacture in China, to sell in India," the minister noted.

In recent months, several states including Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu had invited Tesla to set up a plant in their respective states.

Earlier too during an exclusive exclusive interview to Network18, Gadkari had said that Tesla is welcome in India but manufacturing cars in China and selling them here is "not a digestible concept".

"Tesla is welcome in India, we don't have any problem. Now his (Elon Musk’s) interest is to manufacture Tesla cars in China and sell them in India. We request him that you can start your own plant here. We have all ancillaries available here, you can get quality production here and you can get good sales here. So if you start here, you are welcome, no problem. But manufacturing in China and selling in India is not a digestible concept to all of us," Nitin Gadkari had told News18 in an exclusive interview.