Himachal Pradesh’s transport department announced that it is the first to convert all of its petrol- and diesel-powered official vehicles to electric.
After flagging down electric vehicles in Shimla, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu congratulated the department and said that the state had taken the initiative to switch over to electric vehicles and notified its policy.
He said that 300 more electric buses would be added to the HRTC, Himachal Road Transport Corporation’s fleet, for which an outlay in excess of Rs 400 crore was approved.
Sukhu said that a target was set to increase the number of electric buses in HRTC’s fleet by 60% over the next two years.
In a statement released here, the chief minister stated that “We are working towards making Himachal India the first ‘green’ energy state by 2025.”
He stated that the motivation behind switching to electric vehicles was to reduce unnecessary petroleum product consumption and preserve the environment.
Sukhu stated that “all government departments will have electric vehicles within 1 year.” He also added that the Electric Vehicle Policy, 2022, has been notified.
The chief minister stated that “we will transform all existing diesel buses into electric buses in a gradual manner.”
He said that the local bus depot in Shimla will soon be equipped with a fleet of electric buses, while a Nadaun depot will also soon be open.
Around 110 locations have been identified for the installation of electric vehicle charging stations. The chief minister stated that 700 government buildings were selected for charging stations.
Mukesh Agnihotri (Deputy Chief Minister) is also the head of the transport department. He stated that it took record time for the department to move into green mobility.