NITI Aayog Celebrates One-Year Anniversary of Shoonya Campaign – India’s Zero Pollution e-mobility Campaign – EQ Mag Pro
NITI Aayog held a day-long forum today to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Shoonya, India’s zero pollution e-mobility campaign.
Shoonya is a consumer awareness campaign to reduce air pollution by promoting the use of electric vehicles (EVs) for ride-hailing and deliveries. The campaign has 130 industry partners, including ride-hailing, delivery and EV companies.
All the partners participated in today’s forum and shared their success stories and commitments toward fleet electrification. G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant, NITI Aayog CEO Param Iyer, MyGov CEO Abhishek Singh, Delhi Government Principal Secretary Ashish Kundra, Mahindra Electric Mobility CEO Suman Mishra, and several others attended the event.
In his keynote address, G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant said, “The success of the Shoonya campaign is evidence that the green mobility revolution is knocking on our doors. The future belongs to a shared and connected world through electric mobility.”
Underscoring the important role of green mobility in achieving India’s decarbonization goals, NITI Aayog CEO Param Iyer said, “The Shoonya campaign has the potential to galvanize participation from all sectors towards the goal of green mobility.”
Today’s forum provided opportunities for partners to share knowledge and learnings and initiate collaborative engagements. During the focused discussions, corporates shared their challenges in scaling EVs and solicited feedback on driving impact through the campaign.
The National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Energy Storage (Part III) report was also launched during the event. The report highlights that India’s $2.5-billion Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) energy storage is critical for meeting the projected cumulative battery demand of 106–260 GWh by 2030 to successfully realize the country’s vision for EV adoption and grid decarbonisation. Read the report here.
About Shoonya:
Rapid global urbanization and e-commerce sales are driving significant growth in urban freight and mobility demand. In India, these sectors are expected to grow at a CAGR of 8% through 2030. If this demand is met by internal combustion vehicles (ICE), it would significantly increase local air pollution, carbon emissions, and lead to adverse public health effects. EVs offer an opportunity to address these challenges. Compared to ICE vehicles, EVs do not emit PM or NOx emissions at the tailpipe; they release 60% less CO2 and have 75% lower operating costs. Shoonya supplements existing national and sub-national EV policies as well as corporate efforts in India by creating consumer awareness and demand for zero pollution rides and deliveries in Indian cities.
Till April 2022, the estimated number of electric deliveries and rides completed by corporate partners via the Shoonya campaign was close to 20 million and 15 million, respectively. This translates to a carbon dioxide emission savings of over 13,000 tonnes.
If all final-mile deliveries and rides in India were shoonya, India would be well on its way to improving air quality, reducing public health costs, enhancing energy security, and achieving its climate targets. The electrification of the ride-hailing and delivery sector in India could mitigate close to 54 MT of CO2 emissions, 16,800 tonnes of PM emissions, and 537,000 tonnes of NOx pollution, saving roughly 5.7 lakh crore in expenditures over a year. Thus, Shoonya can lead to dramatic emission reductions in the transport sector, supporting India’s five-point agenda (Panchamrit), announced at COP 26, to reduce carbon emissions and secure its 2070 climate goals.
