Punjab to Collaborate With WEF on Electric Mobility

The State Government of Punjab has partnered with WEF to design a public-private pilot project on shared, clean and electric mobility.

To combat the growing problem of environmental pollution, the Punjab government has partnered with the World Economic Forum (WEF) to design a public-private pilot project on shared, clean and electric mobility.

The state, which is also formulating its own Electric Vehicle (EV) policy to support the adoption of e-vehicles, has been chosen for the pilot project by the WEF as it is well-positioned for the shared EV transition.

The pilot project will examine how public and private sectors can interplay to offer the most robust and successful EV ecosystem, as part of the collaboration to be formulated at the WEF annual meeting in Davos on January 2020, said Vini Mahajan, state Additional Chief Secretary, Investment Promotion. The study will form a blueprint for EV implementation across cities and countries worldwide.

The collaboration is just one of the initiatives being taken by the state government to promote e-mobility as a way to transform the state’s transport system into a cleaner one.

The state has already banned new registrations of diesel and petrol three-wheelers in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Mohali and Fatehgarh Sahib districts. It is also encouraging the setting up of EV battery units in the new industrial park located over 380 acres in the Dhanansu village in Ludhiana district.

The two-day Progressive Punjab Investors Summit, beginning on Thursday in Mohali town, will see e-mobility as a key subject of discussion, with prominent dignitaries from automobile, e-mobility and research institutions participating in the same.

Delegates from Volvo Group, Virgin Hyperloop One, Mahindra Electric, Hero Electric, SML Isuzu, Hella India Lighting Ltd, among others, will be part of the session to outline the opportunities that prevail in the state to be well placed in the global value chain in e-mobility.

Recently, the state government had informed that it is in talks with Japan to launch electric buses based on the Japanese model of state-of-the-art quick charge lithium-ion batteries in the state. The project will begin with a pilot of five buses in Chandigarh and Patiala.