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20th, Feburary, 2022

Kumari Shriya Lohia, a resident of sub-division Sundernagar of Mandi district, who is also a recipient of the National Child Award, called on Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar at Raj Bhavan on Monday. On the occasion, the Governor honored Kumari Shriya for her achievements.
The Governor expressed happiness that Kumari Shriya has registered several awards for Motorsports Karting Race at the national level. He said that she has brought pride to Himachal by representing the country in international racing. He said that she was an inspiration to other budding players.

(Source: HP Government)

Aim to make Himachal Pradesh an electric vehicle cluster of 2025.
The state cabinet on November 30, 2021 approved the new electric vehicle policy
The Himachal Pradesh hill is a hilly state, where the natural beauty attracts everyone towards it. With a view to keep the air clean and clean, the state government has taken an important decision and notified the Himachal Pradesh electric policy-2022, so as to reduce air pollution by preventing smoke from vehicles.
On January 10, 2022, after the new electric vehicle policy was approved by the State Cabinet on November 30, 2021, the Governor also notified the new policy.

Under the policy, Himachal Pradesh will be made a hub of electric vehicles and by the year 2025, many all categories of electric vehicles will also be produced in the state.
The state government has set a target of registering 15 per cent electric vehicles by 2025 and proposes to make four cities of the state, Shimla, Mandi, Baddi and Dharamsala as electric vehicle towns.
Under the new Electric Vehicle Policy, special electric vehicle fleets will be set up in the Himachal Pradesh and 15,000 four-wheel vehicles, 50,000 two-wheelers and 500 three-wheelers will become electric vehicles.
Manufacturing units will be set up in the state to manufacture electric vehicles.
As demand for electric vehicles increases, more industries will be open, creating job opportunities.
For the convenience of electric vehicle users, electric charging stations will be set up in a radius of 25 km of national highways and state highways and the electricity board will provide power supply to them.
The government will fix subsidy on electric vehicles per kilowatt.
Not only this, the old vehicles running on fuel will also be able to be converted into electric vehicles, for which incentives will be given.

The tax exemption will be available, the electric vehicle policy will be implemented in the next five years and the state government will exempt road token tax on the purchase of electric vehicles.
Even on the highways, there will be no toll tax for electric vehicles of the state and outlying states.
Further, commercial permit fee will be waived as per the notification of the union ministry of surface transport and highways. this exemption will be valid for a period of five years i.e. the period of implementation of this policy.

Under the new electric vehicle policy, the state government will create an electric vehicle park, which will be built on 100-200 acres.
Under the state industrial policy, electric vehicle parks will be developed with adequate infrastructure, common facilities and necessary external infrastructure.
Vehicles with battery packs less than 120 volts will come under the category of light electric vehicles, while heavy electric vehicles with a capacity of more than 500 volts will be called.
The buses will have the same capacity.
The e-scooter will have an inbuilt battery with a backup of up to 50 km.
With this, an additional battery will last up to 50 kilometers.
Electric vehicles will be used as government use as well as taxi cars. Built-in batteries can be charged at home at night and can be used daily for a distance of about 80-100 kilometers.
Fast charging stations as well as swapping stations will be set up for extended batteries on cities, national highways and state highways.

Transport minister Bikram Singh Thakur said that under the new policy, the demand for electric vehicles will be boosted through provision of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives.
The use of electric vehicles will be made mandatory in a phased manner, starting from public transportation and government institutions and also at the institutional level.
He said the state government’s objective is to attract investment for electric vehicle manufacturing and research and development ecosystem. the state will prepare a separate secretariat to ensure effective implementation of the new electric vehicle policy.
Where the policy will develop a mechanism operational guidelines for monitoring the progress and transfer of incentives for electric vehicles and electric charging points to buyers.

The electricity board has been made the nodal agency for preparing the infrastructure for charging vehicles with electricity. at least one charging station will be built in a grid of one square kilometer.
One such zone each will be created in shimla, mandi, baddi and dharamshala city where there is zero emission of gases from trains. where only walking, cycling or walking in an electric vehicle will be valid.
To implement the policy, the state government will use 95 per cent of the funds collected from the compounding fees charged under the green tax and the motor vehicles act.
Regular consultations will be held with industry, energy operators, banks and other financial institutions, civil society organisations for smooth implementation of the policy and its provisions.

The state government will also launch an awareness campaign to promote electric vehicles. the campaign will be launched for all major electric vehicle stakeholders of the state, including electric vehicle dealerships, consumers and financial institutions. the objective of this campaign is to create awareness about the benefits of electric vehicles and the incentives provided by the central and state governments.
In addition, students of schools and colleges will be encouraged about clean mobility solutions.

(Source: HP Government)

20th, Feburary, 2022