India could emerge as a green hydrogen exporter within the next five years, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said on November 13 at the CII Partnership Summit in Visakhapatnam. He said the shift towards alternative fuels would help reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels, curb pollution and create new opportunities for farmers and domestic manufacturers.
Describing hydrogen as the fuel of the future, Gadkari said India was currently an importer but could become an exporter through the development of green hydrogen. He also defended the government’s ethanol-blending programme, alleging that the controversy surrounding its implementation was driven by a paid campaign. He highlighted the growing adoption of flex-fuel technology by automobile manufacturers, including Toyota’s plans for a 100% bioethanol-powered Innova.
Gadkari also said India’s logistics costs had declined from 16% to around 9% of GDP, attributing the reduction to improved road connectivity and investments in greenfield corridors. He stressed that better infrastructure was essential to lowering transportation costs and strengthening export competitiveness. On electric mobility, he said India had the manufacturing capacity to produce 60,000 electric buses annually, adding that electric construction equipment would also play an important role in the country’s clean transportation transition.