State govt gearing to release electric vehicle policy

Chennai: Tamil Nadu is gearing to unveil its electric vehicle policy, which would bring in a change in the development regulations of installing charging points in buildings and public charging stations (PCS), said state transport secretary J Radhakrishnan on Friday.

Addressing an event organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), he said, “The state’s inherent strengths in manufacturing, skilled manpower and capabilities in system software will come in handy to lead in the electric mobility sector.”

This announcement comes in the wake of plans by Hyundai, a private automobile manufacturer, to launch their electric vehicle in the state.

Last week, top officials from the transport department and other state government agencies held talks with a UK delegation to explore potential areas of partnership with Tamil Nadu on e-mobility.

Various topics including fleet transition programmes, vehicle to grid system, pilots and charging infrastructure development in three cities were discussed in the meet in which Radhakrishnan had also participated. Amid this, the Centre has released guidelines for e-vehicle charging infrastructure which is to be implemented in nine cities, including Chennai. TN is also trying to make its public transportation greener.

Transport minister MR Vijayabaskar recently announced that they will buy 2,000 new electric buses with German assistance. In the first phase, 500 of them will ply in Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai. Government has already signed a ‘Clean Bus Declaration’ with C40 Cities, a climate leadership group. This agreement will pave way for promoting pollution-free electric buses.

Metropolitan Transport Corporation is already in talks with Tangedco to set-up charging points in bus depots.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes