Tamil Nadu lays road to green transport
In keeping with its responsibility of being India’s auto hub, Tamil Nadu is among the first of the blocks to unveil an electric vehicle policy. The government aims to revolutionise public transport and make the state an e-vehicle manufacturing centre as well. The government has set an ambitious target of attracting investment worth Rs 50,000 crore and creating over 1.5 lakh jobs. M C Sampath, the state’s minister for industries, hopes to entice companies from China to realise the dream. Land for manufacturing plants is also being made cheaper. To draw customers towards e-vehicles, the government has promised 100% exemption of road tax till the end of 2022. An electric bus is already with the MTC fleet as a tech demonstrator, the first of 525 buses the government plans to incorporate in major cities.
While the proposed transition towards green modes of transport is promising, the government must make concrete plans to create the infrastructure needed to support it. Charging ports at regular intervals, continuous power supply and pocket-friendly tariffs are needed before the vehicles are on the road. A good number of charging stations can be installed in public spaces like malls and entertainment hubs as well as on major roads, highways and existing housing complexes. The state has plans to amend building by-laws under Development Control Regulations to integrate charging infrastructure into new constructions at the planning stage itself. The electric vehicle policy states that all existing associations with more than 50 families will be encouraged to provide charging points in parking lots. Commercial buildings will have to allocate 10% of their parking space for electric vehicles.
While there is no national timeline for the transition to e-vehicles, and people can hardly be expected to switch over till push comes to shove, there is no denying that the change will eventually happen. Tamil Nadu has been the early bird; hopefully other states would take their green cue.