As per the draft of the Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy, the Maharashtra government said it will ensure 10% of all new registered vehicles in its major cities would be electric by 2025.
According to the presentation by Transport Commissioner Avinash Dhakne, the policy draft targets all urban agglomerations — Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Aurangabad, Pune, Nagpur.
Nashik also aims to achieve 25% electrification of intra-city public transport and last mile delivery vehicles by 2025. The draft policy exhibits an ambitious plan of converting 15% of the existing fleet of 18,000 state RTC buses to electric vehicles over the next five years.
Mr. Dhakne who was speaking on Thursday at the online town hall organised by Climate Voices — a collective of three organisations Purpose, Asar and Climate Trends along with the Maharashtra Environment and Climate Change Department’s Majhi Vasundhara initiative, said, “The State intends to make four highways and expressways fully EV ready by 2025 including the under construction Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway, Mumbai-Pune Express Highway, Mumbai-Nashik and Nashik-Pune.”
Maharashtra government also proposed that starting April 2022, all new government vehicles will be electric across major cities listed under the draft policy.
The share of the EVs in new vehicle registrations in 2025 is expected to be 10%, 20% and 5% for two, three and four wheelers. As per the target, at least one giga factory for the manufacturing of advanced batteries will be set up.
In addition to this, the government has also proposed city-wise targets of setting 1,500 charging stations for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, 500 for Pune, 150 for Nagpur, 100 for Nashik and 75 for Aurangabad, by 2025.
Ashish Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary (Transport), said that the policy is awaiting the final nod from the Cabinet.
“We are keen to take advantage of the schemes of the government of India, and just like leading manufacturers of internal combustion engines, we will soon become a leading manufacturer of EVs too.”
~Ashish Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary (Transport),who heads the committee drafting the policy
He further added that the Transport Department has already consulted the stakeholders but still open for suggestions from the public.
