Mumbai: Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday asked the government-appointed committee to present a revised policy to promote electric vehicles in Maharashtra. A committee headed by the additional chief secretary (transport department), which was formed in December 2020, is in the midst of crafting EV policy for the state.
The state government aims for 10% electric vehicles of all new vehicle registrations by 2025. The government proposes to substitute government vehicles in major cities with EVs from April 2022 onwards. The government plans to convert about 25% of the existing public transport infrastructure in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Aurangabad, Pune, Nagpur, and Nashik to electric mod by 2025.
The Chief Minister’s Office in a tweet said, "Addressing a meeting with the Transport Department, CM Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray advised a formulation of a revised policy to increase the use of electric vehicles to reduce air pollution. He instructed officials to prepare policy and present it in the cabinet."
Thackeray has directed that while formulating a revised policy, consideration should be given to how the policy can be effectively implemented in urban-rural areas. CM asked the administration to prepare a road map for the infrastructure development for setting up charging stations.
Besides, he insisted that the policy should be crafted after a thorough study for incentives based on demand and supply, investment potential in the electric vehicle sector and measures to increase the use of electric vehicles.
The chief minister also directed the committee to consider ways in which electric vehicles can be promoted for public transport.
Environment Minister Aditya Thackeray said the committee should consider establishment of charging stations in housing societies in urban areas while drafting the policy. In addition, he suggested that the government will have to tweak the present financial limits for the procurement of electric vehicles.
