In order to encourage the use of electric vehicles to prevent air pollution Chief Minister Vijay Rupani announced subsidy schemes for electric two-wheelers and e-rickshaws during a virtual programme on climate change to commemorate the founding day of the state climate change department. Apart from this, memorandum of understandings (MoUs) were also inked during the event.
- This announcement was also a part of “Panchsheel gift” of five development schemes in Gujarat to celebrate the 70th birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
About Schemes:
-Students will get a subsidy of Rs 12,000 each to buy e-scooters. Under this scheme, the government will provide assistance to students studying from Class 9 to college to purchase battery-powered two-wheelers. The target is to provide this assistance to 10,000 such vehicles.
-The state government will also provide assistance of Rs 48,000 for the purchase of 5,000 battery-powered e-rickshaws for individual and institutional beneficiaries.
-Subsidy scheme of Rs 5 lakh has also been announced to set up infrastructure facilities in the state for charging battery-powered vehicle.
-Ten public charging stations will be set up in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot to facilitate the charging of e-vehicles. A sum of Rs 50 lakh has been earmarked for setting up these charging stations.
Signing of MoUs
–The Climate Change department signed virtual MoUs with 10 organisations to mitigate the effects of climate change and increase the use of renewable energy via the usage of space technology and geo-informatics.
–Another MoU, “Climate Change Risk Assessment of Mitigation”, was signed with the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) for climate finance and climate policy matters.
–Apart from above, it inked MoU with the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar (IITGn) on capacity building, research and enhancing the public utility of scientific information in the field of climate change and environment.
–A MoU was also signed with the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) and Gujarat Gas to increase the usage of clean fuels like CNG in vehicle transactions.
Recent Related News:
i.On August 7, 2020 Gujarat Government announced the New Industrial Policy 2020 for the State, with an expected average annual outlay of up to Rs 8,000 crore, which is meant to provide incentives to the industries. It aims to provide an estimated Rs 40,000 crore as subsidies to industries in the next 5 years.
ii.Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated the ‘World Class Stateof Art Honey Testing Laboratory’ virtually. This is considered to be the first Government Honey Testing lab in India. The testing lab was established by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in Anand, Gujarat with support of NBB (National Bee Board).
About Gujarat:
Capital– Gandhinagar
Governor– Acharya Devvrat
