Andhra Pradesh Govt To Provide Electric Bikes To Employees On EMI
The government of Andhra Pradesh is putting all efforts to make the state an e-vehicle hub. For this, it has formulated a scheme with funding support from central government agencies to supply electric two-wheelers to its employees on EMI basis. The electric bikes will have a full charge range of 40 to 100 kilometres with three years’ annual maintenance. The amount can be repaid within 24 to 60 months with zero investment from the state government. New & Renewable Energy Development Corporation of AP Ltd (NREDCAP) shall be authorised to operate the EMI scheme for providing electric vehicles to all government employees as told by the State energy secretary Srikant Nagulapalli. It will also include cooperative societies, public sector undertakings and pensioners.
Nitin Gadkari: India To Be The Top EV Maker In The World
Recently, Union minister Nitin Gadkari was addressing the Amazon’s Smbhav Summit virtually where he mentioned that lithium-ion batteries would be manufactured fully in the country in the next six months and India will become number one electric vehicle maker in the world in due course of time. He also said that the government wants to encourage automakers to introduce flex-fuel engines in India and he is in the final discussion with manufacturers. He also mentioned that the government is also working to launch hydrogen fuel cell (HFC) technology which uses chemical reactions between hydrogen and oxygen (from air) to generate electrical energy, eliminating the use of fossil fuels. With India currently importing Rs 8 lakh crore worth of crude oil which is going to double in the next 4-5 years it is important to look for an efficient and alternative mode of energy. He even pointed out that in the next two years, the cost of electric vehicles will come down and will be as competitive as petrol and diesel vehicles. Mr Gadkari emphasised that the quality of EV manufactured in India should be of international standard so that the Indian automobile industry becomes the number one manufacturing hub in the world. Hence, the government is now encouraging ethanol, methanol, bio- CNG, electric and hydrogen fuel cell.
Uttar Pradesh’s 14 Cities To Get 700 Electric Buses
In order to bring down pollution levels in the state, the Uttar Pradesh government is planning to operate 700 electric buses in 14 major cities of the state. Earlier, the electric buses were running on roads across seven cities but now the government intends to provide this service to seven more cities. The cities to get electric buses for the first time are Moradabad, Jhansi, Bareilly, Shahjahanpur, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur and Aligarh. The cities that will get additional buses are Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Agra, Meerut, Mathura and Ghaziabad. More buses will be added to the fleet in the coming days and the routes will be upgraded to make buses run faster as well.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in a statement, stated that the operation of electric buses based on advanced technology will significantly improve the traffic system in 14 major cities of the state. The government has also issued strict instructions to prepare charging stations at all selected locations for the operation of electric buses by April 30. Work has been initiated on the project by the Urban Transport Directorate after getting approval from the UP government.
