As Petrol Prices Continue to Rocket, Indian Transport Minister Drives Hydrogen-Powered Car

For more than a week, fuel prices in India have been revised daily. The prices vary according to which state you're in because of local taxes such as Value Added Tax (VAT) and freight charges.
Sputnik
As the cost of filling your car has continued to soar, India's Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari arrived at Parliament on Wednesday in a car powered by green hydrogen - the Toyota Mirai.
The minister hailed the car - which is the first of its kind in the country - as the "future of India", and something which will help the nation to become self sufficient.
"We've introduced green hydrogen, which comes from water - this car is a pilot project," Gadkari said, adding: "Now, the manufacture of green hydrogen will begin in the country meaning that we will need fewer imports and new job opportunities will be created."
"Petrol and diesel cause pollution. But hydro fuel cell cars do not cause pollution," the minister said.
On 16 March, Gadkari launched India's first hydrogen-based advanced "Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV)", the Toyota Mirai, and shared a video of it on his Twitter handle.
Hydrogen vehicles are zero-emission. In such a type of car, the gas is stored in a high-pressure tank and transferred to the fuel cell to generate electricity created by a reaction between hydrogen and oxygen.
In parliament, the minister discussed alternative fuel and said green fuel would reduce the cost of electric automobiles bringing their price on par with petrol-run vehicles in two years.
He said: "The cost of electric scooters, cars, auto rickshaws will be the same as their petrol-driven equivalents. Prices of lithium-ion batteries are coming down. We are developing the chemistry of zinc-ion, aluminium-ion, and sodium-ion batteries."
"If you're spending INR100 ($1.3) on petrol, then, for the same distance, you be spending INR10 ($0.13) on an electric vehicle," the minister added.
Fuel prices in India rose for the eighth time in nine days on Wednesday. Prices of both petrol and diesel increased.
On Wednesday, in Delhi, petrol cost INR101.01 ($1.33) per litre and in Mumbai, the price was Mumbai INR115.88 ($1.53).
India's fuel prices remained steady for four months during assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur despite a global price crisis. The elections' results were announced on 10 March.
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