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State, ULBs to purchase, rent only electric vehicles: Aaditya Thackeray
In a major push for the use of clean energy in urban mobility, the state government has decided to purchase or rent only electric vehicles for use by the state and urban local bodies from this month
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Mumbai In a major push for the use of clean energy in urban mobility, the state government has decided to purchase or rent only electric vehicles for use by the state and urban local bodies from this month. Earlier, this was to be done from April 1, but the deadline has been preponed to this month.
This was announced by Maharashtra environment minister Aaditya Thackeray on Sunday. “Keeping our commitment to clean mobility and encouraging citizens, the Govt of Maharashtra has decided to implement the decision of Purchasing or Renting only Electric Vehicles for Govt/ Urban Local Bodies/ Corporations from 1st January 2022 instead of 1st April 2022,” Aaditya tweeted.
He also thanked chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat for supporting the climate action policies of the department of environment and climate change and ensuring that the government mechanisms go green too, to encourage citizens to walk alongside in climate action.
Aaditya has pitched electric vehicles as one of the means to fight air pollution, and the state has also announced its Electric Vehicle Policy- 2021 to incentivise and promote the use of electric vehicles. It wants to achieve a 25 per cent EV share in public transport in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad and Nashik. This policy envisages converting 15 per cent of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) fleet of buses into electric vehicles by 2025 and making the state the top producer of battery-driven vehicles in the country in terms of annual production capability.
