Pune Sets Its Sights on An All-Electric Vehicle Future, Environment Minister Appeals Housing Societies To Install Chargers

Pune, 16th December 2021: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in collaboration with RMI India, an independent think tank, today hosted the first City Electric Vehicle (EV) Accelerator workshop to fast-track electric vehicle adoption in Pune.

During the workshop, the city government showcased ongoing electric mobility initiatives and encouraged key industry stakeholders to share their recommendations. Discussions covered topics such as charging infrastructure, urban freight, first and last-mile connectivity and governance & awareness campaigns. PMC shared its vision and roadmap for the newly established city EV cell, a first-of-its-kind governing mechanism for EVs in the country.

Aaditya Thackeray, Cabinet Minister Environment and Climate Change, Tourism and Protocol, Govt. of Maharashtra attended the event and reiterated the state’s climate agenda. He highlighted Maharashtra’s commitment to reducing transport sector emissions and hailed Pune’s leadership in translating the ambition of the state’s EV policy into ground-level actions.

“City EV Accelerator initiative will help Pune redefine and future proof its mobility system. Pune’s EV cell model will set an example for the rest of Maharashtra and should be replicated to meet the state’s EV targets for 2025. Some housing societies are showing resistance in installing chargers, we should convince them about its safety, affordability and benefits. We have already made changes in the policy and it is mandatory for new housing projects to install chargers,” said the Minister.

Also attending the workshop were stakeholders from the civic administration and representatives from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), charging infrastructure manufacturers and operators, fleet aggregators, start-ups, academia and civil society.

The workshop saw the participation of senior leaders from the state including the Additional Chief Secretary (Transport), Ashish Kumar Singh. Vikram Kumar, Municipal Commissioner, PMC and Dr Kunal Khemnar, Additional Municipal Commissioner, PMC, were present along with the members of the Pune EV Cell.

Ashish Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary (Transport), Government of Maharashtra, said, “We are hoping that the incentives offered under the state EV policy can help Pune in leapfrogging towards an EV ready infrastructure and ecosystem. We are working on providing a charger within a 3 km radius.”

Rapid deployment of EVs in Pune will be crucial for its pledge to the United Nations Climate Change Race to Zero Campaign and its 10-year carbon neutrality goal.

Vikram Kumar, Municipal Commissioner, Pune, during his remarks said, “Pune is among the first Indian cities to operationalise an EV Cell to drive adoption of EVs. The EV cell is a single-window system for all permissions, NOCs required from various departments. We are preparing an actionable city EV readiness plan and aim to implement projects over the next one year that will set Pune for mass uptake of EVs, thus reducing the air pollution and carbon emissions from fossil fuel based transportation systems. 500 electric buses will join the public transport fleet by March 2022. We are also working on renting buses to small companies for transporting their employees. In order to make EV more attractive, we are offering rebates in property tax who have

Akshima Ghate, Senior Principal, RMI India, said, “RMI India is inspired by the progressive actions of the Maharashtra government. We are committed to supporting the clean mobility transition in Pune and look forward to working with more cities to develop new strategies to foster the EV ecosystem.”

The City EV Accelerator platform will continue to engage stakeholders to address implementation challenges towards EV adoption.

Kinetic Green’s Senior Manager Mehboob Ali Khan in his suggestions said, “E-Rickshaws should be a part of the state government EV policy and eligible for subsidy. They should be allowed to be registered and ply throughout the city in order to build a cost-effective and robust last-mile feeder for the city metro, bus and railways. The Pune city EV cell must include representatives from the industry.”