EESL hands over 6 EVs to PWD of Government of Maharashtra

Energy Efficiency Services (EESL), a joint venture of PSUs under the Ministry of Power, Government of India, today handed over six electric cars to senior officials of the Public Works Department, Government of Maharashtra. The ceremonial handover of keys took place in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at Mantralaya.

The occasion also marked the installation of five charging stations at Mantralaya in Mumbai and two chargers in Nagpur. These six cars are the initial set and a total of 1000 electric vehicles will be leased out to the Government of Maharashtra in a phased manner by EESL. 

The Government of Maharashtra had announced its Electric Vehicle and Related Infrastructure Policy – 2018 with a vision to establish the state as a globally competitive destination for electric vehicles and component manufacturing while simultaneously promoting their wide-spread adoption.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis, said, “Maharashtra has initiated multi-pronged projects towards transitioning to an eco-friendly and sustainable transport system. Electric mobility is an attractive, sustainable and profitable solution to mitigate climate change and the threat to public health caused by vehicular emission. Today’s event is an important milestone in our journey towards enabling this transition.”

Minister for Public Works Department, Chandrakant Dada Patil said, “The state government is committed to reduce carbon footprint by increasing the use of electric vehicles and to develop allied technologies. The government is thinking of long-term measures to make drastic changes in the transport sector and related infrastructure. We are also going all out to develop e-mobility and the necessary ecosystem which needs to be built around it.”

Saurabh Kumar, managing director, EESL said, “The Government of Maharashtra is committed to enabling new technologies including EVs to reduce its carbon footprint. The state’s Electric Vehicle and Related Infrastructure Policy highlights its long-term vision of making EVs a game-changing proposition in the transport sector. It is our endeavor to support this mission of the Maharashtra Government by promoting e-mobility and enabling a robust EV ecosystem.”

Towards enabling the Indian Government’s e-mobility vision, EESL first plans to replace the 500,000 conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) cars being used in government offices with electric variants. EESL has also established charging infrastructure across all the states where EVs are being deployed.