End urea import, store nation’s urine, says Union Minister Nitin Gadkari

Voicing an out-of-box proposal, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday said that people should store urine to make urea. If it is done, India will not need to import fertiliser, he claimed, addressing a gathering of young innovators at the Mayor Innovation Awards function of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation. Talking about the importance of innovation, he gave the example of how bio-fuels can be extracted from natural waste. “Even human urine can be useful for making a bio-fuel and it can also yield ammonium sulphate and nitrogen, he said. Earlier, Gadkari had said that he stored his own urine and used it as fertiliser for the garden at his official bungalow in Delhi.

"I have asked for storage of urine at airports. We import urea, but if we start storing urine of entire country then we will not need to import urea, so much potential it has, and nothing will be wasted. Other people do not cooperate with me because all my ideas are fantastic," the minister said.

The minister known for his outspoken ways, said that even the (municipal) corporation will not help, because, in government, people are trained to be like (blinkered) bulls who walk in the rut, not looking here and there. 

"We are selling amino acid abroad and have an order of about 180 containers of bio-fertiliser from the Dubai government," the Union minister, who controls Purti Group of Industries, said.

Speaking at the function, he also gave the example of the use of amino acid extracted from human hair waste, which can be used as a fertiliser. It boosted production at his farms by 25 per cent, he claimed.

Because he could not get adequate hair in Nagpur, he had to purchase "five trucks of hair" from Tirupati (where devotees shave their head which is later sold) every month, Gadkari said.

(With PTI inputs)