Finance Minister Arun Jaitley inaugurates electric vehicle charging station in North Block and flags off 15 electric vehicles
The Ministry of Finance has recently signed an agreement with Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), an entity under Ministry of Power, for deployment of 15 electric vehicles for their officers,a move to adopt of e-mobility.Finance Minister Arun Jaitley flagged of EVs.
And charging these vehicles,28 charging points (24 Slow charging points, 4 Fast Charging Points) have been installed at North Block in New Delhi.
The agreement was signed in the presence of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Union Power Minister R.K. Singh, Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Sh. Ajay Narayan Jha, Finance Secretary & Secretary (Expenditure), Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg, and Power Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla.
The Department of Expenditure has also issued an office memorandum for all the government offices in Delhi/NCR to switch to electric vehicles.
India’s e-mobility goal
With this agreement, the Department of Economic Affairs begins its transition towards a reduced carbon footprint and a more environmentally sustainable future.Also marks its participation in India’s e-mobility goal of 30 percent fleet electrification by 2030.
Adoption of electric vehicles will reduce dependence on oil imports and promote power capacity addition in India thereby enhancing energy security of the country. It will further reduce GHG emissions from the transport sector and also reduce the impact of pollution level in the cities.
EVs to support India’s growth
Finance Minister said that Electric mobility is an attractive, sustainable and profitable solution to mitigate climate change and the risk to public health caused by vehicular emission. EVs have the potential to support India’s growth by enhancing manufacturing, job creation, and technical capabilities.
Power Minister R K Singh said that the Indian Government is committed to usher in an era of clean, green and future-oriented technologies in the country.The Government is promoting e-mobility by taking a lead in changing the fleet of cars used for official purposes with electric cars and at the same time creating the right policy framework enabling this ecosystem and to support its adoption.
With these 15 EVs, the Department of Economic Affairs is expected to save over 36,000 litres of fuel every year. It will also lead to a reduction of over 440 tonnes of CO2 annually.
