Delhi govt policy soon to incentivise switch from fuels to electric -Governance Now

Delhi govt policy soon to incentivise switch from fuels to electric

Need to bring in better technologies like electric vehicles in India’s automobile and auto component sector to ensure better quality of life, says Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant

GN Bureau | December 20, 2017

#electric vehicles #Amitabh Kant #Niti Aayog #automobile #pollution

Delhi govt policy soon to incetivise switch from fuels to electric

The Delhi government is soon likely to come out with a policy to incentivise people willing to shift from fossil fuels as an energy source to electric (energy), transport minister Kailash Gahlot said.

“Cost of electric buses at Rs 2.75 crore is way too high and unsustainable, I would request the central government for more subsidy along with financial and technical help,” said Gahlot while addressing an ASSOCHAM International Conference on ‘Electric vehicles: Future roadmap for India.’

He also said that since electric vehicles are all about charging, clarity on power tariff becomes very important for quoting the rates. “I think we should look towards subsidy on the power to be consumed by electric vehicles.”

The transport minister added that it is imperative to bring down cost of electric vehicles to make it affordable and viable for public transport.

He also sought clarity on union government's FAME Scheme (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles), a programme of incentives offered to EV buyers to help improve adoption and sales.

“Even under the FAME scheme, there are a lot of gaps and there is lot of ambiguity, like for instance there is no clarity amid manufacturers when asked whether or not they would qualify in the kilometre scheme,” said the minister.

“More clarity in this regard will help us move swiftly,” he added.

He said that it is a challenge for Delhi government to bring in electric buses as the entire infrastructure and ecosystem needs to be created. He added that while Delhi government has already given commitment to induct 100 electric buses, it is willing to increase the fleet to 1,000 as soon as possible.

NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant impressed upon the need to bring in better technologies like electric vehicles in India’s automobile and auto component sector to ensure better quality of life for its citizens.

Highlighting the importance of the sector, Kant said that automobile and auto component sector contributes about 7.2 percent to India’s overall gross domestic product (GDP), creates over 30 million jobs and almost 25 percent of its total manufacturing is exported abroad.

“So whatever we do we must understand that the role of automobile and auto component sector must continue to grow and expand, to be a job creator, to be a GDP contributor and to play a major role in exports,” he added.

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