Government agencies using 5,384 electric vehicles, says Nitin Gadkari – EQ Mag Pro
A total of 5,384 vehicles out of 8,47,544 vehicles that were in use by government agencies, including central and state governments and autonomous bodies, as of February 4, 2022, were electric vehicles, Parliament was informed earlier this week.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said the maximum number of electric vehicles used by local authorities (1,352), followed by government undertakings (1,273) and state governments (1,237).
Replying to a separate question, Gadkari said out of the total length of 34,800 km including 10,000 km of residual National Highways Development Project (NHDP) projects approved to be developed under Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I, projects for a length of about 19,363 km have been awarded up to January, 2022. To another question, he said for the fiscal year the government has allocated additional budgetary support of Rs 59,000 crore for National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
The minister noted that the total length of NHs has been enhanced from about 91,287 km in 2014 to about 1,41,190 km at present. Replying to another question, Gadkari said 48,144 e-challan issued across the country for drunken driving cases.
Nitin Gadkari also recently spoke at the press conference on ‘Automobile Safety Ecosystem in India’, and had a few points to offer regarding the general safety of cars in India. For starters, Gadkari spoke about how three-point seatbelts for all front-facing passengers will be made mandatory; the notification for which is just a few days away. There will also be an aim to have an independent agency (Bharat NCAP) give out ratings to automobiles in the country based on their safety features.
CNN-News18 also recently had a word with the Transport Minister about the electric future at hand. He mentioned how there’s a movement towards green hydrogen, and how it very well could be the fuel for the future. In fact, Gadkari firmly believes that electric vehicles will cost as other internal combustion automobiles, in the next two years. He also believes that India will be the number one manufacturing hub for automobiles in the world within five years.
Source : PTI
