Page 62 - Plastics News April 2023

IN THE NEWS

We are making crude out of plastic: Minister of Road Transport and Highways
Shri Nitin Gadkari

nion Transport Minister Nitin dinating with Rakesh Rokde, chair- Mahindra and Mahindra acquired a
UGadkari claimed on Sunday that man of Sonar Sanstha, to get a plot design company in Italy and came up
his family concern has been able to in Mihan-SEZ for an ornament hub. with the new model, for which there
make 'crude-petrol' out of plastic "Goldsmiths from all over Nagpur is a long waiting list now." He also re-
waste, and a plant for the same would and even other cities in Maharashtra called strictly warning the Mahindra
be ready in a month. “I am insisting can set up businesses here, and earn managing director when he was re-
that those who have harvesters use in dollars by exporting jewellery," he luctant to shift to Euro VI norms from
this fuel instead of diesel, and trucks said. "My aim is to develop Nagpur as Euro IV.
can use it up to 50%," he said. He w a manufacturing hub for gold manu- He added, "Even the Tata MD met
peaking at the Late Mohan Dhariya facturing. Though I am no longer the me recently. The company has begun
award ceremony organized by NGO MSME minister, but I would certainly making electric buses again, for which
Vanrai on Sunday. extend all the help for the venture," there is a long waiting list."
"I keep experimenting, it doesn't mat- said Gadkari. On the Surjagarh project at Gadchiro-
ter if an idea ends up losing Rs10 to The minister has regularly spoken li. Gadkari said the iron ore mine has
20 crore. As much as 16 lakh tonne about his business activities. In ear- also led to Naxal cadre quitting arms
garbage is lying in NMC landfills. I lier speeches, the member of parlia- and starting work in the mines.
took 150 tonne garbage to Wardha ment from Nagpur had pegged the The minister said he had initiated
and burnt it in the boiler. The trial has turnover at Rs1,100 and later Rs1,300 the Mihan project and expected it
been successful so far. Once it comes crore, calling it a business run by his would generate one lakh jobs. Today,
through, I can use 2,000 tonnes of sons. as many as 88,000 jobs have been
garbage from the city," said Gadkari. He also said that it was after his sug- created. TCS would be employing
Earlier, speaking at a function by the gestion that Mahindra and Mahindra 12,000 persons, with the inauguration
Sonar Sanstha, an association of gold- came up with the new SUV version planned next month. HCL has so far
smiths and artisans, Gadkari said that of Thar. "The company's owner had employed 7,000 persons, and another
after all these years he would finally met me lately, I told him that apart company Tech Mahindra is also com-
get a Rs30 crore profit from his sugar from being cost centric the company ing up fast, he said.
business due to ethanol. should also have quality centric ap-
Gadkari also announced he is coor- proach. It was after my advice that

28 Gram Panchayat receive `1.5 crore each for recycling plastics

ith increasing daily generation of plastic daily at Kalher in Bhiwandi. constructed from plastic in Bhiwandi,
Wof garbage likely to take a se- Jindal said plastic can be seen on the Ambernath and Shahapur.”
rious form in villages, the Thane zilla roadsides in villages and on highways, In the first phase, village panchayats
parishad CEO Manuj Jindal has under- too. He added that such an initiative would appoint teams of 50 waste
taken a waste management project to has been undertaken for the first time pickers to collect, clean and dry the
dispose of plastic with an allocation of and waste plastic will be recycled to waste before sending it to the waste
`1.5 crore each to 28 gram panchay- be used as fuel for the industrial sec- processing centre, which is in the pro-
ats. A biotech company has been ap- tor. He said, “Under the Chief Minis- cess of being established.
pointed to process one metric tonne ter’s Gram Sadak Yojana, roads will be

62 PLASTICS NEWS April 2023