Watch: Nitin Gadkari, Road and Transport Minister at Smart Mobility Conference organised by FICCI

Nitin Gadkari speaking at Smart Mobility Conference organised by Ficci said battery swapping policy as proposed by the Niti Aayog to promote advanced electric mobility is not viable in India, he also said Electric vehicles are economically & practically viable for our cities.

A FICCI – Rocky Mountain Institute report titled ‘Enabling India’s Transition to Electric Mobility’ was also released by the Union Minister Nitin Gadkari at a conference on Monday.

Gadkari at the conference said India is an electric-surplus and coal surplus country and the nation can capitalize on this advantage to become an all-electric vehicle hub in the world. Having steered the country’s first electric vehicles project in Nagpur, the Minister said that, at present, there are 200 electric taxis in Nagpur along with 200 charging stations and by next month charging capacity of more than 10,000 cars will be created. The government is planning to increase the number of electric taxis from 200 to 2000 in Nagpur. Increasing production will also reduce the cost of lithium-ion battery over time, which almost makes up for 40% of the total cost of an electric vehicle.