Niti Aayog And The Prevention Of Vehicular Pollution

The Niti Aayogs initiative to get the three wheeler and two wheeler industry to move to Electric Vehicles is a welcome one.

Here is a brief of the meeting recently held in Delhi: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/niti-aayog-asks-2-3-wheeler-makers-to-present-ev-conversion-plan-in-2-weeks-4125481.html

But Bajaj, TVS, Hero Honda, etc., are right. It is impractical, and not at all feasible, for the established industry (a huge industry that directly and indirectly employs millions of people) to switch over like that. It’s like asking them to roll over and die.

The Niti Aayog must first focus on the low hanging fruit, which is easier to do and will have rapid impact. It will also act as the financial catalyst for the rest of the industry to start switching more rapidly. And why start with smaller vehicles? They are the least polluting anyway.

Here are my suggestions:

1. All intra-city public transport companies, private or government owned, and companies and schools, must henceforth only buy electric buses, and rent or hire only electric buses from 2023.
2. All fleet taxi operators (the Ola and Ubers of the world) must henceforth add only electric vehicles for 80% of their new additions (20% non electric because inter-city won’t work with electric. Batteries limit distance/range and battery switching stations are not feasible outside city limits).
3. Allow bike taxis all over the country, but allow only electric bikes. This will be a huge employment push as well.