Congress Leader Switches To Electric Vehicle, Credits Nitin Gadkari

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday revealed that he got himself a new electric vehicle, courtesy a parliament Q&A in March with Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari.

"After this exchange with Nitin Gadkari on March 22, I got myself a Tata Nexon EV. I firmly believe India should put an end to manufacturing of all types of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2035 at the very least, and massively bring down the cost of EVs," the Congress leader tweeted today.

After this exchange with @nitin_gadkari on March 22nd, I got myself a Tata Nexon EV. I firmly believe India should put an end to manufacturing of all types of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2035 at the very least, and massively bring down the cost of EVs.pic.twitter.com/18y2WL2UaL

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) August 6, 2022

In the exchange, the Rajya Sabha MP told Nitin Gadkari that in the year 2021, electric vehicles accounted for 1.4% of all the registered vehicles in the country, adding that many countries have announced a plan for phasing out of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2035 or by 2045.

The Congress MP then asked if the government has a roadmap or plan to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles.

He further said that unless there's no "specific roadmap" for electric vehicles, there would be no incentive for the manufacturers to move out of petrol and diesel vehicles.

The minister responded to the Congress MP's question and said "let's not call for any fixed program with 2035 or 2040 as a deadline" for phasing out of petrol and diesel vehicles.

Nitin Gadkari said presently if the cost of a car is around Rs 15 lakh, then the expenditure on petrol would be around Rs 15,000 while in an EV it would be around Rs 2,000 with no pollution and no sound, therefore there is no need to market since it's a natural choice for the consumer to go for a comfortable and economically viable option, which the electric vehicles provide.

He further said he would not commit to the number of years for phasing out of diesel or petrol vehicles because then the media would point out contradictions and that would create a problem.

Mr Gadkari further said they are increasing the number of CNG vehicles, and in the transport sector the cost of logistics in India is very high in comparison to China where the cost is around 10%, while in India it's around 16%. He further said LNG is the fuel for transport vehicles where the cost incurred would be around Rs 8 lakh but, it can be recovered in 290 days.