New Delhi: In an effort to give a boost to the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy RK Singh wrote to all Union ministers and state chief ministers, urging them to convert the official fleet to EVs. "As part of its efforts to promote Electric Vehicles in the country, the Union Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy has written to all the Union Ministers including the Ministers of States (Independent Charge) and Chief Ministers of all the States/UTs to join the Government of India's initiative on transformative mobility and advice their respective Ministries/Departments to convert their fleet of official vehicles from present Internal Combustion Engine (ICE)/Petrol/Diesel Vehicles to Electric Vehicles for all official purposes," said an official statement released on Friday.
The news assumes significance as government offices, both at the Centre and in states, own a large fleet of official vehicles. In order to popularise the adoption of green mobility in the country, 1,590 EVs have already been deployed in 160 Central and state governments across 49 cities.
"Such an action is expected to set an example for the general public and encourage them to switch over to E-Mobility. The initiative is part of ongoing GO ELECTRIC CAMPAIGN launched by Government of India to promote Electric Vehicles (EVs) to meet multiple objectives – attaining goal of reduction in emission, energy security, energy efficiency etc," said the statement.
State-run Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) is responsible for deployment of electric cars in Central and state government offices. EESL, through its subsidiary Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL), is implementing e-Mobility programme with the objective of reducing India's dependence on oil imports and providing an impetus for domestic electric vehicle manufacturers, charging infrastructure companies, fleet operators, service providers, etc to gain efficiencies of scale and drive down costs, create local manufacturing facilities, grow technical competencies for the long-term growth of the electric vehicle (EV) industry in India and to enable Indian EV manufacturers to emerge as major global players.
(PSU Watch– India's Business News centre that places the spotlight on PSUs, Bureaucracy, Defence and Public Policy is now on Telegram & Twitter as well. Join PSU Watch Channel in your Telegram and follow us on Twitter to stay updated)