Himachal Pradesh plans to make entire bus fleet electric by 2025

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Friday (February 17) asked transport department officials to hold meetings with manufacturers of electric vehicles (EVs) to discuss modalities for replacing the existing fleet of buses with e-buses.

Presiding over a review meeting in Shimla, he reiterated his resolve to phase out the entire fleet of Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) buses. By 2025, the corporation’s entire bus fleet would be electric, an official statement said.

Also read: 5 crore electric vehicles on Indian roads by 2030: KPMG report

“I congratulate the transport department for replacing their fleet of existing official vehicles with electric ones,” the chief minister said.

The government also planned to start e-taxis, he said.

British Climate Change delegation meets Sukhu

Meanwhile, a delegation of the British High Commission led by Head of Climate Change Policy Arina Cosac met Sukhu in Shimla.

The chief minister said Himachal Pradesh was moving forward to become a Green Energy State by 2025 and e-mobility would play a vital role to achieve the target. He said inputs of a survey conducted in Shimla under the India-UK PACT would help to develop it as a smart city.

Also read: India has over 10 lakh electric vehicles, 1,742 public charging stations: Govt

The India-UK PACT provides funding for Research Triangle Institute (RTI) to identify policy and institutional gaps around transitioning public transport to electric vehicles, both at state and city levels, the statement said.

The statement quoted Arina Cosac as saying that the baseline survey was conducted in Shimla city on e-mobility, multi-level transportation, and ropeways.

(With Agency inputs)