Himachal Pradesh aims to become a model state for Electric Vehicle (EV) adoption providing sustainable, safe, eco-friendly, inclusive and integrated mobility. This was conveyed by Chief Secretary, Shrikant Baldi at a meeting on Himachal’s Electric Vehicle Policy- 2019.

In the meeting, a target was set for the state to achieve 100 per cent transition to Electric Vehicles by 2030. This is in line with the United Nation’s sustainable development goals and vision of the Government of India.

Policy Objective

Baldi said that the policy was framed with the objective of environment protection, accelerating demand for EVs, promotion of a sustainable transport system and creation of public-private charging infrastructure for EV’s. It aims to create a conducive atmosphere for a transition to EVs by encouraging the use of hybrid EVs and creation of new employment opportunities.

Charging Infrastructure

One of the main challenges of adopting electric mobility is to provide proper and adequate charging infrastructure. Baldi said that the policy aims to promote the creation of dedicated infrastructure for charging of EVs. This involves the development of a viable business model to attract private players to set up EV charging stations and infrastructure. He said that the policy has also included provisions to set up charging spots in commercial buildings such as hotels and shopping malls.

Plans are being made to manufacture the vehicles locally with the State Government’s decision to provide incentives to EV batteries and related components manufacturing and disposal in the Sate.

While most of the countries in the world are speeding up their efforts to adopt electric mobility for sustainable development, Himachal Pradesh will become a model state for electric vehicle adoption in India which other states may emulate and implement.