As the world has known for a while, the future of mobility is electric, with e-vehicles considered the best bet to snuff out pollution. Accordingly, the government of Maharashtra has an announcement to make regarding the Electric Vehicles policy.
Minister for Environment and Climate Change Aaditya Thackeray will address a press conference today at 4:30 pm regarding the same. The conference will take place at Sahyadri Guest House in Mumbai.
What is government planning in EV Policy 2021?
Maharashtra has set a target --- 10 per cent of all new vehicles registered in 2025 should be electric vehicles (EVs). In fact, the Maharashtra Electric Vehicle Policy 2021 has also set a target for a certain percentage of all vehicles to be EV, with inter-city express highways to be EV-friendly.
As per the draft EV policy, 10 per cent of two-wheelers, 20 per cent of three-wheelers and five per cent of four-wheelers newly registered at RTOs need to be electric vehicles. At least 25 per cent of the fleet of aggregator cabs, delivery services, e-commerce companies etc. will also have to be EVs. A separate policy on the recycling of lithium-ion batteries is also being proposed.
The authorities agree that the public is price-sensitive and the cost of vehicles is a big deciding factor. The affordability of these vehicles is vital plus sturdy infrastructure for battery swapping and charging stations needs to be created. In later stages, a mechanism for proper disposal of the lithium ion batteries in EVs is also to be considered.
According to officials from the state transport department, the primary objective of the Maharashtra Electric Vehicle Policy 2021 is to accelerate the adoption of EVs so that they make up 10 per cent of new vehicles registered by 2025. More importantly, all the vehicles owned or on lease by the state government will be EVs, starting April 2022.
(With input from agencies)
