Rs.2,20,00,00,00,00,000

Try to read this number.

I bet you will fail. Nitin Gadkari, the Minister of Road Transport and Highways in India, can do so because he has been reciting these Arabic numerals for a long time.

What does the Member of Parliament from Nagpur, Maharashtra, and the longest-serving Federal minister holding the same portfolio in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government (2014-), have to do with this 14-digit number?

Enough of suspense. This number can be read as: 22 lakh crore Indian Rupees. What’s this? This is the amount of money India spends on fuel imports year after year. Got it?

Gadkari is concerned because the transportation sector consumes a significant portion of this non-renewable energy. His task: to reduce the import bill. Laudable, indeed.

This is his Ethanol-20 or E-20 blended petrol campaign, which the government is pushing down the throat of fellow Indians. What about the rising decibel levels of the aam janta against this jabardast E-20 push? Gadkari does not care, obviously. He is on a mission. Luckily for him, the apex court has come to his rescue, greenlighting the save India through E-20 mission.

cpsoiuaopifupsoifufs ….. coming soon!