New Delhi: Kerala now targets cleaner air with an aim to switch to one million electric vehicles (EVs) by 2022. Kerala’s Finance Minister Thomas Isaac made this announcement today in his Budget Speech for the year 2019-2020. The minister said that the government will put in place Rs 12 crore for e-mobility fund and will take the required steps to make a complete switch to electric buses and other vehicles in the state on priority. He also said that electric vehicles will enjoy tax exemption and by 2022 about one million EVs will be running on the state’s roads. Informing netizens about this new move, Thomas Isaac on his social media said,
Kerala will lead the way towards a better future by switching to electric vehicles. KSRTC will replace its existing fleet of buses with electric ones, which is profitable as well. Thiruvananthapuram will be the first city in India to have an all-electric public transport system.
Kerala will lead the way towards a better future by switching to electric vehicles. KSRTC will replace its existing fleet of buses with electric ones, which is profitable as well.Thiruvananthapuram will be the first city in India to have an all electric public transport system. pic.twitter.com/Ewcz18YBVn
— Thomas Isaac (@drthomasisaac) January 31, 2019
The Kerala Government has also recently come out with its E-vehicle policy under which it is mentioned that new three-wheelers in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode shall only be electric vehicles. In fact, as per the policy, new permits for three-wheelers are only being given to EVs at least in these three main cities of Kerala.
In addition, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is also all set to launch 10 zero-emission and noiseless air-conditioned battery electric vehicles (BEVs) on the Thiruvananthapuram- Ernakulam-Thiruvananthapuram route from February 1 to further the state’s efforts to meet the electric vehicle deadlines. It plans to create a pilot fleet of 200,000 two-wheelers, 50,000 three-wheelers, 1,000 goods carriers, 3000 buses and 100 ferry boats by 2020, in an effort to meet the ambitious target of one million EVs on the road by 2022.
The state has set the deadline keeping in mind the full electrification of all classes of motor vehicles by 2030, the deadline set by the government in 2016.
The state’s e-vehicle transition strategy includes the creation of common charging infrastructure, incentivising the transition, standardising the specifications, creating enabling policies and regulations, promoting localiSation coupled with training and skill development.
NDTV – Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign lends support to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, the campaign aims to spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation, the importance of building toilets and making India open defecation free (ODF) by October 2019, a target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Over the years, the campaign has widened its scope to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and menstrual hygiene. The campaign has also focused extensively on marine pollution, clean Ganga Project and rejuvenation of Yamuna, two of India’s major river bodies.
