Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has said that the National Highways Authority has plans to use all municipal waste produced in the Country for road construction by 2027.

Addressing a convocation at a private engineering college near Chennai yesterday, he said that already 80 lakh tonnes of municipal waste is being used for road construction, including in the construction of the Ahmedabad -Pune Highway, where 25 lakh tonnes were used and 40 lakh tonnes were utilised for the Mumbai -Delhi Highway.

He said that one load was laid with bio bitumen derived from livestock, which was certified by the Central Research Organisation to be better than petroleum bitumen. The Minister informed that many research initiatives have been undertaken to derive hydrogen from various sources, including municipal waste. He encouraged students to become job creators rather than job seekers.