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To cut auto emissions, govt will focus on electric vehicle infra, says Sisodia in budget speech

To cut auto emissions, govt will focus on electric vehicle infra, says Sisodia in budget speech

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To reduce vehicular pollution in the national capital, the Delhi government on Tuesday proposed to focus on electric vehicle infrastructure in the budget for 2021

To reduce vehicular pollution in the national capital, the Delhi government on Tuesday proposed to focus on electric vehicle infrastructure in the budget for 2021. Finance minister Manish Sisodia said by 2024, the government aims to increase the share of electric vehicles to 25% of the total number of registered vehicles.

Sisodia said before the Delhi government’s electric vehicle policy, the share of these environment friendly vehicles in the capital was merely 0.2% of the total registered vehicles. However, after the policy was launched, this share has increased to 2.2% of the total registered vehicles.

“The government now aims that by 2024, the share of electric vehicles in Delhi will improve to around 25% and to make that happen, we are working towards installing as many as 500 charging points. At present, there are 72 such points in Delhi. The idea is to have a charging facility every three kilometres,” Sisodia said.

He also said the aim of his government through such policies is to get “100% freedom from vehicular pollution”.

Presenting data before the house, Sisodia said after the launch of the EV policy, 7,000 buses would be added to Delhi fleet.

“I am very happy to say that 6,693 buses are currently in Delhi’s public transport fleet. That’s the largest fleet in the history of Delhi. This year, after adding 1,000 more buses, this number will reach 7,693. The government has put a target of 11,000 bus fleet in Delhi’s public transport,” Sisodia said in his budget speech.

“If we compare the figures of the past three months, 2,621 electric vehicles were purchased, of a total of 118,482 newly purchased vehicles,” he said.

Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director (research and advocacy), Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said while such focus on EV infrastructure was appreciated, it is doubtful whether the government will be able to achieve the target of having 25% of the total registered vehicles powered by electricity.

“The emphasis on electric vehicles is an important move, but the target of 25% is huge and we will have to see if they have planned well enough to achieve this,” Roychowdhury said.

She also said the government also needs to come out with a plan on the revenue-raising model to fund the EV programme.

Source: hindustantimes
Anand Gupta Editor - EQ Int'l Media Network