BackPower ministry asks all ministries, states to join Centre's e-mobility drive
The government plans to leverage the ₹10,000 crore Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (Fame) scheme to support the electrification of public and shared transport and help build charging infrastructure
PremiumNew Delhi: The union power ministry has advised all ministries and state governments to join the Centre’s initiative on transformative electric mobility, union power and new and renewable energy minister Raj Kumar Singh said on Thursday.
In response to a query in the Lok Sabha about whether the government proposes to use electric vehicles instead of gas-,diesel-powered vehicles, Singh said, “Ministry of Power, Government of India has already advised all the Ministries and the State Governments to join the Government of India’s initiative on transformative electric mobility and advise their respective Departments to shift their fleet of official vehicles from present Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) based Vehicles to Electric Vehicles."
Implementation of the plan will burnish the government’s green credentials after India agreed to achieve net-zero emission by 2070. The government is planning to leverage the ₹10,000 crore Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (Fame) scheme, which is designed to support the electrification of public and shared transport and help build charging infrastructure for this transition.
The scheme is an important part of the government’s strategy to reduce vehicular emissions and dependence on fossil fuels. Money allocated under Fame-2 is to be spent to subsidize 500,000 electric three-wheelers, 1 million electric two-wheelers, 55,000 electric passenger vehicles and 7,090 electric buses.
“Under the Phase I of the FAME India Scheme Projects, 520 charging stations have been sanctioned in cities like Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Jaipur and NCR of Delhi and major highways such as Delhi-Chandigarh, Mumbai-Pune, Delhi-Jaipur, Delhi-Agra etc. Out of these 520 charging stations, 447 charging stations have been installed," Singh said.
The Centre has chosen nine cities with a population of 4 million and above—Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Surat and Pune—for accelerated EV adoption.
“Under the Phase II of the FAME India Scheme, Government of India have also sanctioned 2877 charging stations in 68 cities across 25 States/UTs. Letters of Award are issued to the selected entities after ensuring the availability of land for Charging Stations, signing of necessary agreements/MoU with concerned partner organizations like city municipal corporation/DISCOM/ Oil Companies etc. Letters of award for 1797 Charging Stations have been issued as on 12th Nov, 2021. In addition, Government of India have also sanctioned 1576 charging stations across 16 expressways and 9 highways and issued letters of award to selected entities accordingly," Singh added.
As part of India’s push for EVs, the union government is also developing a centralized mobile app to help EV users locate charging stations and book charging slots. The move by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) is an effort to remove range anxiety among users.
Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world 🌏 Click here to know more.
