'Centre will electrify its own fleet, states must follow suit'

Adviser in the PMO says state governments will be incentivizeol through interest-free loans

- Manas Pimpalkhare

The Union government is planning to use electric vehicles (EVs) for its operations, and will urge states to follow suit, Tarun Kapoor, adviser in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said on Tuesday.

States will be incentivized to electrify their government fleets through interest-free loans from the Centre, Kapoor told the EV industry at the F icci National Conference on Electric Vehicles in New Delhi.

Kapoor said the industry needs higher goals to promote faster adoption and penetration ofthe zero-emission vehicles.

"We will try to encourage government purchases for EVs," said Kapoor. "We are working on that so that the government's own usage gets EVs as soon as possible. We are trying to motivate the states also to do this," he said.

States will be encouraged to convert their fleets into EVs using the interest-free loans they receive from the Centre.