Himachal to be India’s first ‘Green Energy’ state by 2025

Shimla: Switching its complete fleet of official vehicles in the transport department to electrical, Himachal Pradesh achieved a new distinction becoming India’s first state to switch over to electric vehicles.

All 19 vehicles in the department, earlier run on petrol/diesel will now have become ‘Go Green’ vehicles to be run on electrically charged batteries.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu flagged off the vehicles at Shimla’s historic Ridge on Friday in presence of Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri and the entire Cabinet.

“We have taken a new mission in hand to become India’s first green state by 2025 switching over all government vehicles including state-owned Public Transport Corporation to electrical vehicles. We will soon notify the new policy wherein the government will announce incentives for those opting for electrical vehicles. There will also be a chain of charging stations in all major towns and highways,” the CM said.

Sukhu said by converting diesel/petrol vehicles to e-vehicles will have the twin advantage of cutting down expenditure on petroleum products besides preserving the pristine environment of the state. All the government departments will be equipped with electric vehicles within a year.