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Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Friday launched the first scheme to provide customer facing incentives on purchase of electric trucks of up to Rs 9.6 lakh per vehicle as part of the government's PM E-DRIVE initiative, which has earmarked Rs 500 crore for electric trucks out of its Rs 10,900 crore outlay. Industries including ports, logistics, cement and steel will be the key beneficiaries of the scheme, which envisages support of up to 5,600 electric trucks. "Diesel trucks, though constituting only 3 per cent of the total vehicle population, contribute to 42 per cent of transport-related greenhouse gas emissions and significantly worsen air pollution. This pioneering scheme, guided by the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, represents India's first dedicated support for electric trucks. It will drive our nation toward sustainable freight mobility, a cleaner future, and the realization of Viksit Bharat by 2047, in alignment with our net-zero emissions goal by 2070,
The West Bengal transport department has decided to streamline the registration of e-rickshaws and phase out unregistered and illegally manufactured vehicles. The decision was taken in view of representations from various bodies about the plying of lakhs of unregistered e-rickshaws built in workshops without following any standard manufacturing procedures or safety guidelines. A senior transport department official said that district magistrates have been asked to identify battery-operated unregistered e-rickshaws built clandestinely at local garages and phase them out in a time-bound manner. Transport Secretary Saumitra Mohan, in a notice issued on September 12, said, "Representations have been received from different stakeholders in connection with non-compliance of guidelines for registration of e-rickshaws, duly manufactured by different companies including original equipment manufacturers, after obtaining the approval from the competent authority." As per the Central Motor ...