10% ethanol blending has saved foreign exchange worth Rs 41K crore: PM Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that 10 per cent ethanol blending has led to reduction of 27 lakh tonnes of carbon emission, saved foreign exchange worth Rs 41,000 crore and earned Rs 40,600 crore in the last eight years to our farmers. The Prime Minister announced that India has achieved the target of 10 per cent ethanol blending in petrol five months ahead of schedule and said that in 2014 ethanol blending was just at 1.5 per cent. "There are three clear benefits of achieving this goal, first, it has led to a reduction of 27 lakh tonnes of carbon emission. Second, it has saved foreign exchange worth Rs 41,000 crore and thirdly, farmers of the country have earned Rs 40,600 crore in the last eight years due to increase in ethanol blending," the Prime Minister said.

Prime Minister Modi was speaking at a programme on `Save Soil Movement` at Vigyan Bhawan here. `Save Soil Movement` is a global movement to increase awareness about deteriorating soil health and bring about a conscious response to improve it. The movement was started by Sadhguru in March 2022, who embarked on a 100-day motorcycle journey passing through 27 countries and June 5 marks the 75th day of the 100-day journey.

The Prime Minister informed the audience that to save the soil, the government has focused on five main things. First - how to make the soil chemical free, second - how to save the organisms that live in the soil, which are called `Soil Organic Matter` in technical language, third - how to maintain soil moisture, how to increase the availability of water, fourth - how to remove the damage that is happening to the soil due to less groundwater and fifth - how to stop the continuous erosion of soil due to the reduction of forests.

"Main efforts are being undertaken in the agriculture sector to alleviate the problem of soil issues. Earlier, the farmers of our country lacked information about the type of soil, deficiency in soil, how much water is there. To overcome this problem, a huge campaign was launched to give soil health cards to the farmers in the country," he said.

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