NEW DELHI, June 5: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced that India has achieved the target of 10% blending of ethanol in petrol five months before the deadline the country had set for itself.
Making the announcement at a programme on the ‘Save Soil Movement’, which coincided with the World Environment Day, Modi enumerated the number of measures his government has taken to protect the environment, saying its efforts have been multi-dimensional despite the country having a negligible role in climate change.
The rise in ethanol blending in petrol from 2% in 2014 to 10% now has reduced carbon emission by 27 lakh tonnes and saved ₹41,000 crore of forex reserve. This has also brought ₹40,000 crore of income to farmers, he claimed.
The Prime Minister said India has also achieved its goal of having 40% of its installed power generation from non-fossil fuel-based sources nine years before the deadline. The ‘Save Soil Movement’ is a global initiative to increase awareness about deteriorating soil health and bring about a conscious response to improve it, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had said in a statement.
The movement was started in March by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, who embarked on a 100-day motorcycle journey passing through 27 countries, it said, adding that June 5 marks the 75th day of the journey. Modi said India’s forest cover had grown by over 20,000 sq km in the last eight years, with wildlife numbers also seeing record growth.
(Manas Dasgupta)