Centre approves electric vehicle-based public transportation for 11 cities

In a fillip to India’s Electric Vehicle (EV) Mission 2030, the Ministry of Heavy Industries announced the introduction of electric vehicles in the public transportation systems of 11 cities. The shortlisted cities are Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Jaipur, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkata, Jammu and Guwahati.

Announcing the move, Heavy Industries Minister Anant Geete said, “The centre received huge response for introduction of EVs under the expression of interests invited by the Ministry. As many as 44 cities across 21 states are willing to introduce EVs. This includes vehicles across all segments—buses, four-wheeler taxis and three-wheelers or auto-rickshaws.”

The Government wants only EVs to ply on India’s roads by 2030 as part of its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the global agreement on climate change, and to reduce spending on oil imports, which, according to one estimate, could double to an annual $300 billion by that year.  (Livemint: December 28, 2017)