
As a significant step towards Government’s mission to switch to all-electric cars by 2030, the Ministry of Heavy Industries has approved the introduction of EV-based public transportation systems in 11 cities across the country. The cities include Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Jaipur, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkata, Jammu and Guwahati.

Ministry of Heavy Industries selected these 11 cities after screening 47 proposals from 44 cities, requesting nearly 3,144 electric buses, 2,430 electric four-wheeler taxis and as many as 21,545 electric three-wheelers. This would have required about US$632.2 million (INR 4,054.6 Cr) of financial support from the centre. Considering limited funds under the FAME schemeonly 11 cities have been shortlisted currently.
The selection was made based on a number of parameters such as population, vehicle density, vehicular pollution, Swachhata Abhiyan ranking, coverage under the government’s Smart City programme. The available financial outlay under Phase 1 of the FAME scheme also played an important role in the selection process.
Under the Phase 1 of the FAME scheme, the government is looking to introduce a variety of electrically-powered modes of transportation including buses, taxis and auto-rickshaws. The project was launched in 2015 and is set to expire on March 31, 2018.
Anant Gangaram Geete, the Union Cabinet Minister for Heavy Industries said in a press conference, “We will accord priority to public transport in FAME II. Our primary objective will be that the country’s public transport should be 100% electric. If the public transport is 100%, then we can reduce pollution to a great extent.”
The use of EV in passenger cars and public transport is expected to drive demand for aluminium automotive applications and prodcuts like rolling sheet, extrusion and casting products in India.
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