Union surface transport minister Nitin Gadkari said he has been able to reduce the cost of cleaning river Ganga project by more than a third at Rs20,000 crore. The earlier estimates put the amount needed atRs60,000 crore, but a little bit of innovative planning has helped bring it down to Rs20,000 crore," said Gadkari. The Clean Ganga mission is a flagshipprogramme of the BJP government.

Gadkari was addressing the concluding function of Innovators Industries Entrepreneurs Facilitators and Academia (IIEFA) organized by RSS arm Vijnana Bharati. The aim of this three-day seminar at VNIT campus was to bring industries and research agencies together on a platform.

Gadkari said the problem areas along the river's path were identified. It was found that a host of industries, like tanneries, oil refineries, sugar mills, distilleries and paper mills, were located along the river, which were causing a lot of pollution. "We have come up with a proposal to use the polluted water in Ganga by the industries. This will not only make commercial sense but also help keep the river clean," he said.

Gadkari said he has approached the ministry of petroleum, power and railways. The Mathura refinery needs 40 million litre pre day of water (MLD). It has agreed to draw polluted water from Ganga. In the same way, the ministry of power has also agreed to use such water for the 13 power plants located in the area. The power plants need 750 MLD of water. This will help suck out the polluted water from the river, he said.

He said the ministry of railways has also been approached with a similar idea to use the polluted water for cleaning rail coaches. Sugar mills and tanneries along the river's flow have also been offered interest free loans to recycle and use the water.

NMC to extract methane from sewage

Nitin Gadkari said a meeting was held at NMC with an expert from the US, Dr Rao, on the civic body's project to extract methane and carbon dioxide from sewage water. The expert has already done this successfully at Warna in West Maharashtra. The methane generated out of the process can be used for making bio CNG for running buses. Almost 100 buses can run on this bio fuel in the city, he said.