India approves $9.4 billion plan to electrify public transport

India has accepted an investment of 576.13 billion rupees (S$9.4 billion) for green public transportation as it wants to eliminate emissions from vehicles and meet swelling need in its cities. The investment will be done in order to eradicate 10,000 electric buses in several cities, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said on Wednesday. “We dont have enough public transports, especially buses, in cities,” he said, after a meeting of the federal Cabinet.

“This move will give a boost to electric mobility.” The federal government will give away 200 billion rupees to the plan that will include participation from private firms, Mr Thakur told reporters. Cities which hold their population between 300,000 and four million will be in the race for the aid, he said. Shares of electric bus creators Olectra Greentech and JBM Auto rallied on the declaration. The declaration follows a meeting between United States climate envoy John Kerry and India’s Heavy Industries Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey in July, where the two rulers talked about US economic help to boost  deployment of 10,000 electric buses in India.

Electric vehicle sales in India have increased a lot in 2022 , led by subsidies for buyers and increasing fuel prices, according to BloombergNEF. Two and three-wheeler vehicles have maximum of the sales, with passenger cars accounting for a little fraction. Yearly sales are tentatively going to reach 10 million units by the end of ten years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed  at the G-20 energy ministers’ meet in July.