By 2021, All Buses In India Will Be Electric, Confirms Minister Nitin Gadkari

Amidst the constant push by the Indian government to inculcate an electric vehicle ecosystem in the country, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has now highlighted the efforts to induct more electric buses. According to him, all the buses in the country will be switched to electric in the next two years.

The agenda is to have an alternate fuel source than fossil fuel ones which are one of the main causes of high levels of pollution in the country. He was quoted as saying "In the coming two years, all buses will be converted to electric," in a recent ET report.

Backing the electric drivetrain, the minister also mentioned other, cleaner fuel sources like "bio-CNG, ethanol, methanol" to be put to use. All the efforts in this direction are aimed to cut down on India¡¯s fuel imports. ¡°With our Rs. 7 lakh crores worth of fuel imports, we are also importing pollution. We have to find a way out of it,¡± said the minister.

Nitin Gadkari (Representative Image: BCCL)

Transition to electric vehicles

The transition to electric vehicles has many on the edge of their seats with the varied measures taken by the government. Recently, government think tank Niti Aayog came up with a proposal to impose a deadline on the manufacturing of petrol and diesel 2 and 3 wheelers by 2023 and 2025 respectively. The idea was to propel the auto makers towards producing more electric vehicles for the country, while putting a stop to the fossil fuel ones.

The proposal, however, received a massive backlash from the OEMs who urged the government to discard the idea right away, citing recent IC engine vehicles that they had to come up with due to the BS-VI emission norms coming into effect in 2020.

Gadkari has now cleared the government¡¯s stance on the matter. As per him, no such ban is required for the transition to electric vehicles. "There is no need to make electric (vehicles) mandatory, or even ban petrol and diesel vehicles," Gadkari said. Instead, the government¡¯s take will now involve a more incentive-based approach for EV makers, as cleared in the FAME II scheme recently.

With this, Gadkari is optimistic about the transition. ¡°In the time to come, India will become the manufacturing hub for vehicles running on electric and alternative fuels,¡± Gadkari said.