“Incentives like interest subvention can be worked out so that concessionaires or contractors can invest in construction equipment running on alternate fuels, instead of fossil fuels,” the minister said, adding that the use of non-fossil fuels can bring down the cost of energy in highway construction by 40% to 60%. The cost of fuel in a highway project is 8-10% of the total cost. Around 4,000 million litre of diesel is used in highway construction every year.
The government is also close to finalising a policy for use of solid municipal waste in highway construction.
“The policy has almost been finalised. The municipal waste segregation unit costs Rs 40-50 lakh. Segregated waste – plastic, glass and metal – will be used in place of earth and aggregates.”
It is being examined whether to give incentives to municipal corporations for waste taken for highways and how to purchase machines, Gadkari said. He said a lot of waste has already been utilised for highways. Around 30 lakh tonne of waste from Delhi and Ahmedabad has been utilised for building highways.
The total municipal waste in Mumbai is 260 lakh tonne and the same in Delhi is 220 lakh tonne. Overall, waste dumping sites occupy 10,000 hectares of prime urban land in some of the biggest cities of India.
Gadkari said the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has requested the finance ministry for the need to have a concessional rate of taxation on flex engines, similar to the one enjoyed by electric cars. Flex engines can run on both gasoline and ethanol.
