Pune: Union minister Nitin Gadkari said in Pune that hybrid vehicles which can run on petrol, ethanol, methanol or a mixture of all these will be available in a few months, and people will not have to depend on petrol for running the vehicles. He said that the prices of vegetables have gone down but only the spurt in petrol prices is being discussed.

He said that if the state government removes Goods and Service Tax (GST) on petrol and diesel, prices could drop by Rs 8 to 9.

“In Nagpur, 55 buses are being run on ethanol successfully,” replied Mr Gadkari, while responding to a query about rising fuel prices in India. He was interacting with the media on the occasion of four years of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in power.

“Companies like Bajaj and TVS have already developed vehicles that run on either petrol, diesel, ethanol, methanol or a mixture of these. We have agriculture waste being converted into ethanol and methanol. This will help cut import of crude oil as well,” Mr Gadkari said.

“The prices of tomatoes and onions have gone down and people are getting the benefit. However, they are only talking about fuel prices. If the state government reduces taxes like state Goods and Service Tax (GST) on fuel, prices will go down by Rs 8 to 9,” he said.

He refused to speak about the Palghar byelections where BJP defeated the Sena. He gave the ruling government a pat on the back for successfully implementing many schemes. “Under the Jan Dhan Yojana, 31.5 crore bank accounts have been opened and Rs 80,000 crores has been deposited in them. 36 lakh villages in 17 states have become defecation-free,” he said.