Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari addressed a youth conclave organised by the Delhi BJP and outlined a plan for public buses to run on hydrogen produced from segregated municipal waste. He described a process in which waste would be processed through biodigesters to generate hydrogen for public transport. He also set out a longer term vision of vehicles that use water to generate hydrogen for propulsion.

Gadkari said the technology would involve segregation of garbage and its conversion into hydrogen at local facilities, emphasising that such systems could be integrated into existing waste management. He acknowledged scepticism over the idea and referred to his record of forecasting developments over the past 50 years. The remarks were reported by news agencies and presented as a policy objective rather than a detailed timetable.

The minister noted that waste has already been reused in infrastructure projects, saying that around eight million (mn) tonnes (t) of garbage from Delhi landfill sites have been used in expressway construction. He used the term million (mn) and tonne (t) on first reference and indicated the government aims to eliminate garbage across the country by 2027. The comment linked waste reuse to both environmental and logistical benefits in road projects.

Gadkari pointed to economic returns from waste projects, saying the municipal corporation in his parliamentary constituency earns around Rs 3.25 billion (bn) annually by selling treated wastewater. He defined billion (bn) on first mention and suggested such revenue streams could help finance local services. He framed the approach as combining economic incentives with pollution reduction.

On fuel policy, he contested reports of damage from E20 petrol and urged critics to name any vehicle that suffered problems after the introduction of the fuel. He warned that dependence on fossil fuels imposes an economic burden of Rs 22 trillion (tn) in annual imports and underlined the importance of clean energy adoption. India has already achieved 20 per cent blending of ethanol with petrol as part of that effort.