Promoting clean fuels, Union Minister inaugurates 'Towards Panchamrit'

New Delhi, Feb 4 (IANS) With a view to promote adoption of clean fuels, Union Minister for Heavy Industries Mahendra Nath Pandey on Saturday inaugurated "Towards Panchamrit". Officials said that to drive the country towards cleaner mobility, the Central government is giving a major push to clean fuels.

"Towards Panchamrit" event is an effort in this direction, to promote adoption of "Panchamrit'' which is 5 clean fuels -- Hydrogen, Ethanol, Bio Diesel, Gas and Electric Vehicles.

Towards Panchamrit, the Conference & Exposition on schemes for promotion and development of the automotive industry in the country was held at International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT), Manesar, Haryana.

Union Minister for Heavy Industries Mahendra Nath Pandey and MoS Heavy Industries Krishan Pal Gurjar also inaugurated the exposition and ICAT Incubation Centre.

Union Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey emphasised that in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcements at COP 26 -- "Panchamrit Ki Saugat", 5 commitments to achieve the vision of becoming a carbon neutral country by 2070, ministries are making comprehensive efforts to move towards fulfilling this vision.

He said the government under the visionary leadership of PM Modi is taking efforts to achieve vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat in automotive industry.

Mahendra Nath Pandey said that the government has abolished duty on vehicles brought in by international automakers for testing purposes in the country, which earlier attracted duties of 252 per cent.

He said this will attract automakers from more countries to avail the testing facilities available in the country.

He sought support of the auto industry in the efforts of the government towards making India a clean and green country.

MoS Krishan Pal Gujjar highlighted initiatives taken by the Ministry to promote clean and green mobility. He said these initiatives will give a boost to domestic manufacturing, help in employment generation, reduce dependence on exports, promote growth and development of the industry and thereby, help in achieving the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat in the automotive industry.

The event was attended by automotive industry leaders, senior government officials and students.

The exposition had displays from over 84 companies, which included 33 component manufacturers, 11 companies from testing equipment manufacturers and 36 vehicle manufacturers.

The Ministry has taken several initiatives such as PLI - Auto, PLI - Advanced Chemistry Cells (ACC) and FAME-II to boost manufacturing of environmental friendly products in Automotive Industry.

These schemes focus on creating a robust ecosystem of innovation that will enable development of clean mobility solutions and reduce the carbon foot print of the country.