Karnataka Dy CM gives boost to Electric Vehicles; vows better access to charging infra

Karnataka Deputy CM Ashwathnarayan vowed to provide easy access to charging infrastructure for electric vehicles by establishing various points at public places, he said while discussing the 'Future of Sustainable Mobility' at Harvard-India Conference virtually. Underlining the government's resolve to boost sustainable mobility, the Karnataka Dy CM acknowledged the lack of charging facilities as one of the major reasons for the failure of electric vehicles in the state and said that the government was fixing the issues. Dy CM Ashwathnarayan informed that the govt would set up charging infrastructure in public places including malls, metro stations, IT parks, apartments, and other spaces. 

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Addressing the discussion, Karnataka Dy CM revealed that he had spoken about how Karnataka has been pioneering the Clean Tech space in India. Further, he noted that Karnataka was the first state to launch the EV & Energy Storage Policy to boost the entire electric vehicle ecosystem. Ashwathnarayan also noted that the government was working to provide better-charging infrastructure along with startups and other thriving R&D firms in Bengaluru. The Karnataka Dy CM also informed the government's plans to replace at least 50% of the official vehicles with EVs in the near future. 

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Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Friday said that he will make electric vehicles mandatory for officials of his department. The idea behind this initiative is to encourage the use of electric vehicles rather than those running on petrol and diesel. The union minister said that if 10,000 electric vehicles are brought into use in Delhi, then about Rs 30 crores per month spent on fuel will be saved and it will reduce pollution.

With the aim to create awareness on the benefits of e-mobility as well as EV Charging Infrastructure electric cooking in India, Gadkari addressed the launch of the "Go Electric" campaign, on Friday. The "Go Electric" campaign is an important initiative as it would be an important step towards a cleaner and greener future and help in reducing the import dependence of our country in the coming years. He also said that electric fuel is a major alternative to fossil fuels which have an import bill of Rs 8 lakh crores.

The union minister further mentioned the opportunities and potential of electric cooking in India. The Transport Minister talked about the diversification of agriculture towards the energy and power sector. He said that the Ministry of Power should promote the generation of green power from biomass and agriculture waste which can also benefit farmers across the country.

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