Himachal transport department switches to electric vehicles, replacing petrol, diesel

Electrical vehicles parked at Ridge before being flagged off by Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu during an event organised by the state’s Transport Department, in Shimla on Friday, February 3, 2023.
| Photo Credit: PTI

In an effort to achieve the target of making Himachal Pradesh a ‘Green Energy State’ by the year 2025, Himachal Pradesh State Transport Department has switched its entire fleet of official vehicles to electric, replacing petrol and diesel fuels.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said the State transport department has achieved the distinction of becoming the first such department in the country to switch over to electric vehicles.

Mr. Sukhu said Himachal Pradesh has taken a lead in switching over to electric vehicles and the motive behind starting the e-vehicles was to curtail the unnecessary expenditure on petroleum products besides preserving the pristine environment of the State.

“All the Government departments will be equipped with electrical vehicles within a year,” he said, adding that Electric Vehicle Policy 2022 has also been notified.

“We will completely transform the existing diesel buses with e-buses in a phased manner. The local bus depot of Shimla will soon have full fleet e-buses. An electric bus depot will also be opened in Nadaun as well and the e-buses will soon run on all the local routes in Shimla,” he said, adding that 300 e-buses will be added to the fleet of HRTC for which an outlay of ₹400 crore has been sanctioned.

“In the coming two years, a target of 60% e-buses will be added to the fleet of HRTC. We working in the direction to make Himachal as India’s first ‘Green Energy State’ by 2025. The HRTC was in a loss since from the last few years. Switching over to electric vehicles will be a step forward to minimise the cost of transportation and will be affordable to all,” said the Chief Minister.