Gadkari urges auto cos to have 15% e-vehicles in fleet in 5 years

In a move to curb greenhouse gas emissions and dependency on fossil fuels, Union Road Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday urged Indian automobile manufacturers to ensure electric vehicles account for 15 per cent of their fleet in the next five years.

"My ministry has prepared a detailed report to promote electric vehicles through fiscal incentives to have at least 15 per cent electric vehicles in the fleet in the next five years," he said. He added that he would not be making this mandatory, but people themselves would want to buy electric vehicles. Companies can, however, continue to produce vehicles with combustion engines.

The government has also decided to exempt electric vehicles (EVs) and automobiles run on alternative fuel from permit requirements in a bid to boost such vehicles in the country, he said.

The proposal included a plan to limit the registrations of petrol and diesel cars and incentivise sale of EVs. Urging automakers to focus in this direction, the minister said demand for EVs could also be created by mandating cab aggregators like Ola and Uber to induct a certain percentage of such vehicles in their fleet.

“We have decided to exempt EVs and all vehicles including autorickshaws, buses, taxis run on alternative fuel like ethanol, biodiesel, CNG, methanol and biofuel, from permit requirements. "We have taken the decision to make these permit-free," the transport minister said. He said the states have agreed to abide by it as the recommendations came from a Group of Ministers of states, headed by Rajasthan Transport Minister Yunus Khan.