Union Road Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday took a veiled dig at those criticising him over the Centre's push to blend 20 per cent of ethanol in petrol, and said that his "brain is worth 200 crore a month" and he won't "stoop low" for financial gains.
Gadkari, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, made the remarks while addressing an event organised by Agricos Welfare Society in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
"Let me tell you in advance, I am not doing all this for my own earnings, otherwise you may think something else. My income is ample. My brain is worth 200 crore per month. I have no shortage of money," he said. "I give ideas to my sons, but I do not resort to fraud."
Oppn criticises govt's E20 petrol move
Gadkari's remarks come amid him being at the receiving end of the critics over the government's push to blend 20 per cent of ethanol in petrol. The opposition led by Congress has levelled conflict of interest allegations against Gadkari and claimed union minister's sons have benefited from the government policy on ethanol, while he is 'aggressively lobbying' for ethanol production.
However, Gadkari has claimed that he is being criticised as a part of a "paid social media campaign" against him. "This social media campaign was a paid campaign. It was against ethanol and it was to target me politically," he said on Thursday.
Gadkari urges sugar producers to diversify operations
Earlier, Gadkari, a Lok Sabha MP from Nagpur, also urged the sugar producers to diversify their operations and explore ethanol-diesel blending options in view of surplus production. Speaking at ISMA's 'The Indian Sugar & Bio-Energy Conference 2025' on Thursday, Gadkari said the sugar production in India is more than what is required.
"Now there is no alternative to reduce production of sugar in India as in the coming days surplus sugar production will create a big problem in the country," Gadkari had said.
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