Ashok Kumar Bhattarai, Chairman, Assam Road Transport Corporation (ASTC), Anand Prakash Tiwari IPS, Managing Director of ASTC, Anil Srivastava, Principal Consultant and Mission Director of Niti Aayog, Biswaranjan Samal IAS Principal Secretary, Transport Department, Government of Assam, Amit Bhatt, Project Director – Transport & Electric Mobility Forum, WRI India lighted the lamp and got the first Northeast Electric Mobility Conclave started at Radissson Blu, Guwahati. The conclave is organized by WRI India in association with ASTC, Shakti Foundation and supported by the Government of India, and witnessed more than 150 delegates registering and attending the conclave.
Shravani Sharma of WRI India, the host for the day introduced the chief guests to the conclave, further Anand Prakash Tiwari IPS delivered the welcome note and said, “Assam is ready to adopt all the possibility to pollution-free transport. Emission-free transport is one of the four milestones of our CM's vision for Assam. I am sure from this conclave we will get suggestions and guidance which will help us to formulate our EV policy for the state”.
Setting the context of the conclave, Amit Bhatt addressed the gathering and informed about the alarming air pollution levels in the country, especially in Delhi. He spoke about the environment and economic benefits of Electric Mobility and the key advantages, reduction of pollution is one of them. “Electric Mobility is not just a fancy subject, it’s happening around us today. Electric Mobility Forum was founded by WRI India with the support of Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation to bring faster adoption of EVs in the country”.
By providing pollution-free vehicles it's possible to achieve pollution-free air
Amit Bhatt
Project Director, WRI India & Electric Mobility Forum
“Mobility is at the center of the nation's economic activities”, stated Anil Srivastava, Principal Consultant and Mission Director of Niti Aayog sharing the initiatives of the Government of India to promote E-Mobility in India. “We have created the Mobility Task Force across all the states and Union Territories in the country. We have organized Global Mobility Conference and further Mobility Action Plan is made and needs to be implemented”, he spoke addressing the delegates. He spoke about the Battery costing and charging of Electric Vehicles, which is one of the major concern the country is facing today. One cannot just compare Electric Vehicle with other IC Engine vehicles.
One should take total cost of ownership while adoption for EVs as the future is electric
Anil Srivastava
Principal Consultant & Mission Director, NITI Aayog
“It is important to incentivize battery manufacturing in the country and an open policy for the same will be declared by NitiAayog. We need to get away from the inefficiency of State Road Corporations and bring efficiency like other global nations. If we need to grow we need to follow right practices and compete with global economies”, Mr. Srivastava added in his speech.
“EV ensures a clean environment, helps preserve ecosystems and reduces noise pollution; all of these factors are related to overall good health and good livelihood”, spoke Haricharan Boro, Vice Chairman of ASTC. “We may face many obstacles in the implementation of Electric Vehicles like funding, charging infrastructure, but this conclave will bring answers to these challenges, and also help our corporation for future avenues”, concluded Mr. Boro.
In his speech, Chief Guest Mr. Ashok Kumar Bhattaral, Chairman of ASTC informed that under FAME 1 of the first Electric Mobility conclave, 15 Electric Buses were allotted and shortly those will be inducted into Assam Road Transport Corporation. “These EV buses are to be run in Jorhat, Majuli and in Kamrup. ASTC distributed E-bikes to motivate and promote the idea of EV in the state and was very much appreciated”, shared Mr. Bhattaral.
Running up to the event, the Conclave had surprise visitors from Northeast United Football Club and Chefs from Radisson Hotel checking out the Electric Vehicles which were on display. Delegates will get a chance to ride these Ebikes during the conclave.
The conclave will see three technical sessions – Potential and Challenges of adoption of electric mobility in the Northeast which will be moderated by Amit Bhatt and Anil Srivastava of Niti Aayog, Vivek Chandran of Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, Dr. Parag Diwan of EVOracle, Mr. Nikhil Aggarwal of Chalo will be attending the session.
Dr. Parveen Kumar of WRI India will be moderating the second session – Business Models and Financing of E-Mobility and the speakers will be Arshel Akhtar of EBikes, H K Gupta of Himachal Road Transport Corporation, Rahul Gonsalves of Darwyn and Paritosh Dey of Benling India. In the final session the subject discussed will be Linking Electric Vehicles to Renewable Energy which will be moderated by Amit Bhatt of WRI India which will be attended by Abhishek Ranjan of BRPL, Dr. Indradip Mitra of GIZ and Sandith Thandasherry, CEO NavAlt Solar and Electric Boats