Nagpur becomes first city with electric mass mobility system

On May 26, 2017, Nagpur earned the distinction of becoming India’s first city with electric mass mobility system as Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis along with Union Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari flagged off taxi aggregator Ola’s electronic vehicle (EV) services in the city.

Details about Electronic Vehicle (EV) services in Nagpur:

• Ola’s 200-strong fleet of EVs comprise taxis, buses and rickshaws. 100 new e2o Plus cars of Mahindra are also a part of this fleet. Rest of the vehicles have been sourced from other Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), including Tata Motors, Kinetic, BYD and TVS.
• Ola has invested more than Rs 50 crore in EVs and for setting up charging infrastructure.
• To start with, 50 plus charging points have been set up at four strategic locations in
• To promote electric fleet, Maharashtra Government has waived VAT, road tax, and registration for all electric vehicles in the state. With this Maharashtra became the first state to provide various incentives to e-taxis.

Electric Vehicles in India – The Road Ahead:

While addressing the media in Nagpur, Mr. Gadkari mentioned that Central Government wants to introduce 2 lakh electric buses for public transport with and aim to reduce the ticket fare of public transport by 50% in the country.

• Group of Ministers (GoM) which was constituted to prepare the draft plan for the electric vehicle policy, has submitted recommendations to the Cabinet secretary. Central Government will be ready with its Electric Vehicle Policy by December 2017.
• A joint report by Niti Aayog and Rock Mountain Institute highlighted that adoption of electric and shared vehicles could save USD 60 billion in diesel and petrol cost and will cut down nearly 1 gigatonne (GT) of carbon emission forIndia by 2030.
• In a bid to promote eco-friendly vehicles, Government had launched FAME India scheme in 2015 which offers incentives on electric and hybrid vehicles.
• Placing electric vehicles in 12% slab under goods and services tax regime reflects Government’s commitment to promote faster adoption of electric vehicles.