New Delhi, Jun 5 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that India has achieved the target of 10 per cent ethanol blending in petrol ahead of schedule.

Prime Minister Modi was speaking at a programme on 'Save Soil Movement' at Vigyan Bhawan here.

'Save Soil Movement' is a global movement to increase awareness about deteriorating soil health and bring about a conscious response to improve it. The movement was started by Sadhguru in March 2022, who embarked on a 100-day motorcycle journey passing through 27 countries and June 5 marks the 75th day of the 100 day journey.

The Prime Minister said, "Today India has achieved the target of 10 per cent ethanol blending in petrol. You will also feel proud to know that India has reached this target five months ahead of schedule."

"We had set a target to get 40 per cent of our installed power generation capacity from non-fossil-fuel based sources. India has achieved this target nine years ahead of schedule," the Prime Minister said.

Prime Minister Modi also informed the audience that today the country's solar energy capacity has increased by about 18 times.

Talking about 'natural farming', the Prime Minister said that in this year's Budget, the government has decided to encourage natural farming in the villages situated on the banks of Ganga.

"We will make a large corridor of natural farming, which will not only make our farms chemical free and will also give new strength to the Namami Gange campaign," he said.