NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the government will soon put in place a new stable policy regime to promote the use of electric and other alternative-fuel vehicles in the country to fight climate change.
“We want to build India as a driver in electric vehicles. We will soon put in place a stable policy regime around electric and other alternative-fuel vehicles,” Modi said at the launch of the two-day “Move: Global Mobility Summit”. Modi said that in a rapidly transforming mobility paradigm, India had inherent strength and comparative advantages over other major economies. “We have little of the legacy of resource-blind mobility. We have fewer vehicles per capita than other major economies. Thus, we do not carry much of the baggage of other economies that were built on the back of private car ownership. This gives us a window of opportunity to create an all-new seamless mobility ecosystem,” the Prime Minister said.
He added that not only did India have a strong Information Technology sector, but also its vast public digital infrastructure created by the unique identity programme Aadhaar. “With digitally empowered 850 million Indian citizens, we can demonstrate how such digital infrastructure can be combined with new mobility business models. Our renewable energy boost will ensure that the environmental benefits of electric mobility can be fully realised. We plan to draw 175 GW of energy from renewables by 2022. We are already the fifth largest producer of solar energy and sixth largest of renewable energy in the world,” Modi added. He said that India also had a fast growing manufacturing base and a large digitally-literate young population. “Therefore, I am convinced that India is the best place globally to be an early mover in the mobility economy... we will do whatever it takes because this is our commitment to our heritage and our promise to future generations,” he added. (IANS)