Jammu’s e-autos initiative bags Centre’s coveted award
Around 800 low-income families in Jammu city are benefitting from the green initiative, said chief executive officer of Jammu Smart City Project.
Jammu city’s e-autos and e-rickshaws, an initiative of Jammu Smart City Project, has won Centre’s coveted ‘award of excellence in urban transport.’ The award, under the category ‘city with most innovative financing mechanism’ will be conferred on Sunday at Gujarat’s Gandhinagar by the Union minister for housing and urban affairs ML Khattar.
The pollution free, eco-friendly and socio-economic initiative has bolstered local employment rate by generating job opportunities and reducing dependence on conventional fuel, chief executive officer of Jammu Smart City Project, Devansh Yadav, said. Around 800 low-income families in Jammu city are benefitting from the green initiative, he added.
“Under smart city project, we conceptualised e-rickshaws and e-autos. After initial hiccups, they were implemented successfully. The concept is based on three major aims— economical end mile connectivity in urban areas, pollution free mode of transport and generating employment to improve socio-economic condition of the low-income families,” the CEO said. “This e-mobility scheme has certainly brought an economic opportunity for local drivers.”
Although zero-emission electric vehicles are costlier than conventional fuel vehicles but FAME-II (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles) subsidy by the Centre on electric vehicles makes them affordable in comparison to conventional mode, Yadav said.
“Besides subsidy, we also provided a special subsidy package that is being directly transferred (DBT) to the loan account of the beneficiaries,” he said.
“The Jammu Smart City Limited is providing subsidy up to ₹74,000 and ₹58,000 per e-auto and e-rickshaw, respectively, through DBT to the beneficiaries which reduces EV cost by 25 to 30% for end buyers,” Yadav said.
“The DBT-based subsidy amount is being transferred as upfront subsidies as well as monthly EMI support for 12 months, directly into the loan accounts of the beneficiaries,” he added.
Mohan Lal, an e-auto rickshaw driver of Janipur, said: “Earlier, I struggled but today I earn ₹1,000 to ₹1,200 per day. I don’t have to spend money on fuel. This auto has an easily rechargeable battery that I charge at home.” He added that he was initially given one time subsidy of ₹50,000 by the government that was digitially transferred directly into his loan account.
“Subsequently, the government provided subsidy of ₹2,000 a month for a period of one year as part of handholding to sustain us,” Lal informed.
In total, Lal was given a subsidy of ₹74000 that accrued to around 30 % of the total cost of an e-auto that costs ₹2.50 lakh.