Niti Aayog seeks Rs 5,000-crore methanol economy fund

NEW DELHI: Niti Aayog, the government’s policymaking body, will soon move a Cabinet note outlining the roadmap for a methanol mission for India through a Rs 5,000-crore methanol economy fund to kickstart generation of this alternate energy source from January 1, 2018.

The Aayog, under its member VK Saraswat, will hold a high-level meeting of its taskforce on methanol economy on Wednesday following which a roadmap will be laid out to initiate a methanol mission for the country.

The idea is to have an installed capacity of three-four million tonnes of methanol in the next five-eight years to help replace 50% of the fossil fuel requirement of the country. Saraswat said the fund will be used to set up coalbased methanol producing plants.