Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, on Thursday said that he will hold a meeting with oil marketing companies (OMCs) after the Delhi elections to discuss bringing ethanol retail prices to a reasonable level.

“On February 6 or 7, we will hold a meeting. Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri has assured me that the procurement and selling prices of ethanol will be rationalized to a reasonable level,” Gadkari said at the 4th Edition of the Sugar-Ethanol and Bio-Energy India Conference (SEIC) 2025.

The transport minister emphasized that there is significant potential to set up more ethanol pumps, similar to those offering blended fuels, provided the price of ethanol is much lower than that of gasoline. He suggested that sugar factories could open their own ethanol pumps, creating an additional revenue stream.

The union minister also proposed the use of lignin, a residue left behind when rice straw biomass is converted into bio-CNG, as a component in bitumen, combined with rubber powder. He shared that an experiment had already been conducted on a small stretch of the Nagpur-Jabalpur highway using this mixture.

India faces a severe shortage of bitumen, a key material for road construction. “Our requirement is 90 lakh tonnes, but our refinery capacity can only produce 45-50 lakh tonnes, resulting in a 50% shortfall”, Gadkari highlighted.

The minister also proposed a price of ₹35 per kg for lignin, which he believes would make it economically viable for farmers. He encouraged CNG producers to consider expanding into hydrogen manufacturing.

(With ANI input)