E-mobility to be preferred mode of road transport by next decade: Kant

Electric-mobility will be preferred mode of road transport in India by next decade and the challenge for the country was to battery-charge all types of vehicles, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said Wednesday.

Kant, at an event organised by Ficci, said that at present 76 per cent of all vehicles sold are 2-wheelers, which consumed 64 per cent of fuel and accounted for 30 per cent of pollution, while 3-wheelers caused 5 per cent of pollution.

"In addition, 70 per cent of goods transportation was on lorries, which too were a major contributor to vehicular pollution.

"The challenge for the country was to battery-charge all modes of road transport vehicles, and therefore, it was imperative to substitute fossil fuels with cleaner alternative fuels for both inter-city and intra-city movement of vehicles," Kant said.

Businesses need to seize the opportunities that are set to emerge from the e-mobility and sharing of vehicles space, and rise to the challenge of R&D for developing technologies for harnessing renewables and efficient battery storage, the Niti Aayog CEO said.