Congress MP Jairam Ramesh asked if the government has a roadmap or plan to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday revealed that he got himself a new electric vehicle, courtesy a parliament Q&A in March with Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari.
“After this exchange with Nitin Gadkari on March 22, I got myself a Tata Nexon EV. I firmly believe India should put an end to manufacturing of all types of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2035 at the very least, and massively bring down the cost of EVs,” the Congress leader tweeted today.
In the exchange, the Rajya Sabha MP told Nitin Gadkari that in the year 2021, electric vehicles accounted for 1.4% of all the registered vehicles in the country, adding that many countries have announced a plan for phasing out of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2035 or by 2045.
The Congress MP then asked if the government has a roadmap or plan to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles.
He further said that unless there’s no “specific roadmap” for electric vehicles, there would be no incentive for the manufacturers to move out of petrol and diesel vehicles.
The minister responded to the Congress MP’s question and said “let’s not call for any fixed program with 2035 or 2040 as a deadline” for phasing out of petrol and diesel vehicles.
Nitin Gadkari said presently if the cost of a car is around ₹ 15 lakh, then the expenditure on petrol would be around ₹ 15,000 while in an EV it would be around ₹ 2,000 with no pollution and no sound, therefore there is no need to market since it’s a natural choice for the consumer to go for a comfortable and economically viable option, which the electric vehicles provide.
