Every time I see a green number plate on a vehicle around me in Maharashtra, I feel a sense of joy and pride like none other. That is because I have been a part of the team that initiated the facilitation of electric vehicles in Maharashtra. My journey with electric vehicles does not begin with our landmark EV policy of 2021, but back in 2012 when I first spotted them in London. In 2013, on my request, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) included a provision of ₹10 crore in the budget and our first electric buses became operational for commercial use in 2017.
As minister for environment and climate change in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, I had the opportunity to commission the Maharashtra EV policy 2021. Made with inputs from global thought leaders, the policy was welcomed by industry and citizens alike. It remained dynamic even once we adopted it, as we reviewed it every three months with members of the electric vehicle industry from manufacturers to those on the supply chain side, as well as stakeholders from delivery and taxi companies to consumer forums, and even civic administrators.
This helped us stay ahead of the curve.
In 2018, Maharashtra had close to 4,000 electric vehicles on the road. After our 2021 EV policy was implemented, the numbers rose to 189,698 by 2022. As we approach the end of this year, the state claims almost 300,000 EVs, with at least 260,000 of them being two-wheelers. I have spotted two-wheelers in the Western Ghats, which, at one point, would have seemed unlikely on account of range capability.
It wasn’t just the citizens that we were preaching to. We believed that the change must start with us. The policy mandated that all vehicles, whether bought or rented by the state government or urban local bodies in urban areas must be fully electric.
The National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) to urban agglomerations, the 15th Finance Commission fund and the EV Policy helped urban local bodies across Maharashtra place large orders for electric buses to encourage rapid transition.
The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) bus service of Mumbai was encouraged to procure 10,000 electric buses by 2027, 900 of which would be double-decker electric buses. As projected in our presentation to the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, the transition to electric mobility would not only make BEST the largest electric civic bus service but also ensure it turns in surplus funds due to the electricity rates of green energy generated by its own electricity wing.
India will have to lead the world in terms of electric mobility, as our population grows in the next 50 years, the capacity and need for vehicle purchase will only increase. While a rapid and overnight transition of private vehicles is not feasible, our electric vehicle policy has made potential buyers think of electric vehicles as a possible first or next purchase.
It is only fitting that governments and corporate houses make the first shift to electric or alternate clean fuel. Picture airports with only electric vehicles, corporate offices that use only electric vehicles as shuttles for employees, or a city’s roads where electric public transport buses, three-wheelers and government vehicles ply.
With the increasing availability of charging stations, range anxiety is no longer much of a concern. Most highways have such stations. In Mumbai, at a convention of the real estate sector, an MoU was signed in my presence for 5,000 charging stations to come up in buildings and housing societies across the city.
Our policy encouraged all new residential and commercial buildings to have at least 30% of their parking spots to be equipped with electric vehicle chargers.
Clean mobility is not the future, it is the need of our generation. For the future, we must start thinking of alternative clean fuels.
We started the Pune Alternate Fuel Conclave — a coming together of the industry and environment, and transport departments of the government of Maharashtra supported by the MCCIA of Pune (a chamber promoting industry) — in 2022, when we saw alternative fuel vehicle launches, like a hydrogen-run bus. It was meant to be a meeting place for businesses, consumers and the government. Financial institutions were present for customers to avail of loans, civic administrators were present to better understand the role of alternative clean fuel in public transport and clean cities, and most importantly, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and supply chains had meetings there.
Unfortunately, the PAFC now stands defunded and the government policy to buy/rent only electric vehicles is put on pause.
Policies like electric mobility and causes like clean and alternate fuel must be beyond the borders of petty politics. In a world that faces climate change, it is India that is truly vulnerable to climate change, in a large way, due to our socio-economic layers and geography. Our potential for growth can be halted due to climate change and yet, it is India that has the capacity to lead climate action globally, due to the very same factors.
The choice is truly ours, and the moment is here. Whether we make the moment ours or miss this industrial revolution, the green revolution of another kind is for our policymakers to think about.
Aaditya Uddhav Thackeray is an Indian politician who served as Maharashtra cabinet minister of Environment, Tourism, and Higher Education. He is a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly representing Worli in Mumbai. The views expressed are personal.
