EV usage should be made mandatory for all govt officials, says Union Minister Nitin Gadkari
Addressing at the launch of the Go Electric campaign, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the use of 10,000 EVs in Delhi can alone save Rs 30 crore per month.
Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday made a case for making it mandatory to use for all officials in government ministries and department.
He also suggested that the government should give subsidy to buy electric cooking appliances instead of giving support for buying cooking gas to households.
Addressing at the launch of the Go Electric campaign, Gadkari said, "Why don't we provide subsidy on electric cooking appliances? We already provide subsidy on cooking gas."
He said that electricity cooking is clean and will also reduce the import dependence on LPG gas.
Gadkari suggested that the use of EVs should be made mandatory for all government officials.
He also urged Power Minister R K Singh to make it mandatory to use electric vehicles for officials in his department, saying he will do so for his departments.
He said that the use of 10,000 EVs in Delhi can alone save Rs 30 crore per month.
On this occasion, Singh also announced that a fuel cell bus service will be launched from Delhi to Agra and Delhi to Jaipur soon.
Singh said, "We are going to start a premium bus services using fuel-cell electric vehicles from Delhi to Jaipur and Delhi to Agra... totally premium. We will advertise (about) it and increase its (frequency)."
He said, "Our vision is 'Go Electric and Green The Electricity.' So bring more and more sector to electricity. Mobility is one and cooking is another. Move away from firewood and gas. It (electricity) is cheaper than gas... that is the way to go... not the imported gas."
He suggested a trajectory where five years down the line, no busses would be allowed in India unless they were electric; and four years down, all three-wheelers turn electric.
About the Hydrogen Energy Mission announced in the Budget-2021, the minister said, "We are going for green hydrogen bids in four to five months. We already had a discussion with ministries of petroleum, steel and fertilisers."
He informed about the government's plan to replace 10 percent of imported ammonia with green ammonia.
He said, "We can add 10 percent hydrogen in our gas. This will increase calorific value and reduce our (gas) imports. We can put a mandate that 10 percent imported hydrogen for refining would be replaced by green hydrogen."
Noting the green hydrogen is expensive at present, he stated that green hydrogen would be cheaper in next three years just like it happened with renewables.
He cited the instance of solar energy, where tariff dipped from Rs 15 per unit to Rs 1.99 per unit.
Later, in a media interaction, he said that gone are the days for 'Licences Raaj' in the electricity distribution business in the country as it would soon be de-licensed.
The minister told that this would enable the consumer to choose from multiple electricity service providers in their area.
At present, either private or state-run, the electricity distribution utilities are monopolies and consumers have no option to change services providers.
Singh also informed that the average increase in power demand was 10.5 percent from October 2020 to January 2021, and the power demand grew at over 13 percent in October 2020.
Thus, the power demand growth would be even higher when the economy picks up pace (post-pandemic), he added.
He was of the view that India's imports of petroleum should reduce.
About the import of gas in the country, he stated it is not a path to Aatmanirbhar Bharat, and India needs to reduce the import of gas.
The Go Electric campaign is launched on Friday to spread awareness on the benefits of e-mobility and EV charging infrastructure in India.
Edited by Suman Singh