Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that India has achieved the target of 10 percent ethanol blending in petrol five months before the deadline. The achievement has led to a saving of Rs 41,000 crore.
“It has led to a reduction of 27 lakh tonnes of carbon emissions, saved foreign exchange worth Rs 41,000 crore, and farmers of the country have earned Rs 40,600 crores in the last eight years due to increase in ethanol blending”, said PM.
The Prime Minister was addressing a program on the “Save Soil Movement”, which coincided with World Environment Day. “India has achieved the target of 10 percent ethanol blending, five months ahead of schedule. In 2014, ethanol blending was at 1.5 percent,” PM Modi said.
PM Modi said that the policies introduced by the Centre in the past eight years have protected the environment in multifaceted ways.
The Prime Minister further informed that India has achieved the target of sourcing 40 percent of the country’s installed power generation capacity from non-fossil-fuel, nine years ahead of schedule.
Modi said that the average carbon footprint of the world is about four tons per person per annum compared to just about 0.5 tons per person per annum in India.
He said that India is working on a long-term vision in collaboration with the international community to protect the environment and established organizations like Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, and International Solar Alliance.