MP govt will present electric vehicles policy soon, says state minister

The Madhya Pradesh government will soon present a policy on electric vehicles and also try to attract investment in the sector, state minister Rajvardhan Singh Dattigaon said on Thursday.

"We are giving final shape to our industrial policy for electric vehicles and it will soon be launched by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. We wish to attract maximum investment in this sector," the minister for Industrial Policy and Investment Promotion told reporters after inaugurating the Madhya Pradesh Auto Expo, a two-day event, here.

The department's principal secretary Sanjay Kumar Shukla said it was the plan of the state government to present its policy on electric vehicles at this expo, but as a few of its points are yet to be given final shape, it cannot be presented during the event and it will be rolled out in May-June.

More than 100 companies engaged in manufacturing vehicles and their spare parts are participating in the expo. People can be visit it without having to pay any entry fee, officials said.

Dattigaon also invited industries involved in manufacturing vehicles, semi-conductor chip and other auto parts to invest in the state.

The National Automotive Test Tracks (NATRAX) situated near Pithampur is one of its kind's largest facilities in Asia and the investors can also take advantage of it, the minister said.

On the occasion, he said the state government has already provided 4,500 hectares of land to vehicle manufacturing units in Pithampur and Mandideep and adequate land is also available for fresh units.

The existing vehicle manufacturing units every year export to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore and these factories are generating employment for two lakh persons.