NITI Aayog chairs inter-state workshop for discussing future of mobility in India

The government's think-tank NITI Aayog,  chaired a workshop with various states and Union Territories and dicussed the future of mobility in Indian and their experiences on the topic of electric mobility.

The session was co-chaired by Rajiv Kumar, vice-chairman, NITI Aayog; Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog and Anil Srivastava, MD, NITI Aayog along with participation from representatives from Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Heavy Industry Ministry, Ministry of Power, Petroleum Ministry and included state representatives too.

In his opening remarks, Rajiv Kumar of NITI Aayog mentioned that while "electric mobility is a sunrise sector and it's still evolving. NITI Aayog is committed to the vision of clean and sustainable future mobility for India." Kumar added that the country will need to moved towards a model of shared, connected and zero emission, and also reduce dependency on fossil fuels. According to Kumar, the government is working towards putting in place an ecosystem to ensure that India take steady strides towards the future of mobility.

Amitabh Kant said "The onus is now on states to put the pedal on the metal and move towards shared, connected and zero emission mobility. 'Make in India' has to be at the heart of future of mobility.  Renewable power and battery storage can surcharge the shift towards a cleaner mobility paradigm."

Sanjeev Ranjan, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transportation & Highways said: "The Road Transport Ministry is taking the necessary steps to ensure provisions for shared and connected mobility in India by ensuring necessary structural changes and regulatory requirements."

Kant added that with the "Vehicle Scrappage Policy, there is a huge opportunity to create fitness centres and new kind of jobs for the States. A recent report by Morgan Stanley, 'India’s Transport Evolution', has highlighted that half of India’s car fleet will be EVs and half of all miles driven will be on shared platforms by 2040. This new sunrise area can emerge as the biggest catalyst of clean environment and new jobs. Indian States must push for public transportation. India has only 1.2 buses per 1,000 people; only 63 of the 458 Indian cities have a formal city bus system and 15 cities have a bus or rail-based mass rapid transport system. Public transport must become the core focus area for states."

Giving the perspective of the oil marketing companies, Sanjeev Singh, chairman, Indian Oil said that, “the PSU was working on different initiatives for supporting a clean mobility and put forward the potential challenges for setting up a robust EV charging infrastructure in India."

During the discussion, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, D Thara, Joint Secretary (AMRUT) said that the National Common Mobility Card envisions to be the one stop solution for commuters across the country.

The Joint Secretary and DDG, of Ministry of Power, Vivek Dewangan shared his thoughts on the charging infrastructure, guidelines and standards for electric vehicles in the country. He said that "necessary steps are being taken to ensure smooth implementation of charging infrastructure under the FAME II scheme which is being shared with the representatives of States."