Further reinstating the Centre's stance on electric vehicles, Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday hinted that all buses in the country would be converted into electric within the next two years. "In the coming two years, all buses will be converted to electric," media reports cited Gadkari as saying at the national conclave on energy efficiency in micro, small and medium enterprises in New Delhi on Monday.
"They will run on bio-CNG, ethanol, methanol," the Economic Times reported Gadkari as saying. With the announcement, Gadkari reiterated the Narendra Modi-government's stance on promotion of electric vehicles as well as adoption of alternative sources of energy.
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However, he maintained that there was no need for a ban on petrol and diesel vehicles or a need to make electric vehicles compulsory. Earlier too, he had opined that there was no need for banning vehicles running on fossil fuels as electric mobility will gradually take over the former.
Last month, Gadkari had stated that the government had no specific deadline in mind for automakers to switch to electric mobility or ban production of petrol and diesel vehicles. "Petrol and diesel vehicles will not be banned and the government also does not have any intent to ban anyone," Gadkari said. The statement came amid government think tank NITI Aayog’s proposal to ban production of conventional two-wheelers under 150cc by 2025 and three-wheelers by 2023.
