Shri. Nitin Gadkari, Hon. Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India, was present at the launch of a new electric bus from Switch Mobility. Launching the New Double Decker Electric Bus Nitin Gadkari shares his memories of the double decker buses in Mumbai and how India is exploring the opportunities to have more E-Buses on the roads. He shared how he took the first trial of the Metro Decker bus where Mahesh Babu, CEO of Switch Mobility India, and COO – of Switch Mobility Ltd, was also present.
Also read: Switch Mobility Reveals Double-decker E-Bus
He stated that “ This is the need of the hour for the country” and remembers telling Mahesh Babu that he should take the initiative to start a double-decker electric bus in Mumbai. He also congratulated and thanked Ashok Hinduja and the team for taking this initiative. Shri Nitin Gadkari describes Ethics, Economy, and Environment as the three important pillars of development in the country. He also shared that India has 15 lakh crore of petroleum products and gas imports and states that diesel and petrol are the reason for over 35% of pollution in the country. Further promoting electrification the Transport minister said that, “ This is the time for Ecology and Environment. We need to have most priority for pollution free country and that is the reason that imports substitute for cost-effective and India should focus on indegenious alternative fuels to cut down import costs”.
He also mentioned how challenging the crude oil import is for Indian due to the increased prices. He added that “Electricity is an Indigenous fuel” and shared his experience of when he was working on ‘Diversification of agriculture towards energy and power sector’ in 2004, He says ” conversion of Knowledge in wealth is the future”. Focusing further on the industry he states that the size of the automobile industry is 7.5 lakh crores and how important it is for the country by providing maximum employment and giving maximum taxes to state and central governments. Nitin Gadkari shares his dream of making the Automobile industry worth 15 lakh crore by the end of 2024. He also mentioned that Indian export has increased due to the presence of reputed brands from all around the world.
He pointed out the potential India has in terms of the manpower, Technology, and competitiveness. He also stated the benefits of new scrappage policy by which the vehicle production cost can be decreased and also shares the future plan of building more scrapping ports. He mentioned two philosophies ‘knowledge to wealth’ and ‘waste to wealth’ by which the Indian automobile industry is developing. As per his vision, India will be the number one automobile hub in the world in the next five years. The transport minister also mentions the order of 5,000 buses from the power ministry, where the rate for non-AC buses was ₹39 per km and ₹41 per km for AC buses. He also mentioned that green hydrogen is the fuel for the country and he is using a Hydrogen car himself and how easy and comfortable it is. He also mentions the Indian Oil plant in Panipat where they use Rice straw to make 1 lakh litres of ethanol and 150 tons of bio vitamins per day.
Mr. Gadkari shared a plan for the Green highway which will connect Delhi to different metro cities in less time. He also said that up to 70% of the construction of the Delhi to Mumbai highway which will have only a 12-hour drive is done. He encouraged use of alternative fuels and mentions the growth of the Indian Automobile industry and how it is getting quality centric. He also shares the future plans for solid waste management to produce green hydrogen and solar power. Overall with this speech, the Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India, has promoted electrification and stated the potential of the country to adapt and innovate in this field.