BENGALURU: THE state government is all set to come out with an action plan to make Bengaluru the electric vehicle capital of India. To this end, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will chair a meeting of all stakeholders of the sector on Friday.
“We will soon have a road map on making Bengaluru the electric vehicle hub. The action plan will include manufacturing of electric vehicles, boost for introduction of electric vehicles for mass transport, setting up of necessary infrastructure like charging points all over the city and other aspects,” Minister for Large and Medium Industries R V Deshpande said on Thursday.The meeting will be attended by officials from various departments, civic experts and electric vehicle manufacturers.
The action plan will come out with specific initiatives on implementing the recently unveiled ‘Electric vehicle and energy storage policy, 2017’ with a vision to make the state the preferred investment destination for manufacturing of electric vehicles, and encourage use of electric vehicles for public and private commute.
The plan will unveil measures on encouraging people to shift from petrol and diesel vehicles to electric vehicles, especially in Bengaluru, as they are environment friendly, Deshpande said.
Deshpande said the electric vehicle policy has been well received by the industry and that an electric bus manufacturing company from China has showed keen interest to set up its unit near Bengaluru. Bu, the minister declined to reveal further details, and said talks are at the initial stage.
Good deals
Rs 20,499 cr investment proposals approved
The state government has approved investment proposals worth `20,499 crore from 347 companies from April to November this year with an employment potential for 86,750 persons, Deshpande said. Referring to the recent National Vendor Development Summit held for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Deshpande said about 20 Business-to-Business meetings were held with companies.