kolkata: State Transport minister Firhad Hakim said on Saturday the state would be in a position to roll out 2,000 electric buses if adequate lithium was available with the battery manufacturing companies. Lithium batteries are needed for running electric buses.
"We have already placed order for 2,000 electric buses. Most of them have been readied too. But non-availability of lithium is acting as a deterrent to the battery manufacturing companies. The supply of lithium is controlled by China with the mines under their control. Recently, Exide has entered into an understanding with China for procuring lithium so that they can manufacture batteries at their unit. As soon as, we have lithium batteries more electric buses will be rolled out," state Transport minister Firhad Hakim said.
He added that increasing the fare of buses would not be a solution as petrol and diesel process were increasing and would continue to do so. "Switching over to alternative fuel is the only solution and the state government has already taken several strides in this regard. A number of buses has been converted to CNG. The state Budget has proposed exemption from registration fee and road taxes for two years for battery-operated and CNG vehicles,"he maintained.
The minister said Australia also has lithium mines but importing the same from there has huge financial implications.
The state Transport department is working under the objective of zeroing out petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030.
The low carbon commute transition of Kolkata with planned introduction of 5,000 e-buses and electrification of all ferries across the Ganges by 2030 won the world's seven best climate projects.