Himachal CM seeks status report on e-charging station progress

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], November 14 (ANI): Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, in a late Monday evening meeting, sought a status report from the Transport Department within 10 days regarding setting up e-charging stations in the state, read an official statement from Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).

This move aims to promote the operation of e-vehicles in the state. It is proposed to construct 107 e-charging stations including 53 e-charging stations at petrol pumps and 54 through the Transport Department, the CMO said.

While reviewing the project of establishing six proposed green corridors, the Chief Minister said that the present state government has approved the setting up of Parwanoo-Nalagarh-Una-Hamirpur-Sansarpur Terrace, Paonta-Nahan-Solan-Shimla, Parwanoo-Solan-Shimla-Rampur-Losar, Mandi-Jogindernagar-Palampur-Dharamshala-Kangra-Pathankot, Kiratpur-Bilaspur-Mandi-Manali-Keylang-ZingZingbar Green Corridor. He also enquired about the tender process of installation of electricity transformers and the status of the tender process of these green corridors.

Sukhu said that the diesel buses of Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) would be replaced with e-buses in a phased manner and soon the tender process would be initiated for the purchase of 300 new e-buses. The government is committed to reviving HRTC and prioritizing e-vehicles for environmental conservation and e-taxis would be hired in government departments.

He said that to provide self-employment opportunities to the unemployed youth, e-taxis would be hired from them, which would be deployed in government departments. A website was also being developed for registration of e-taxis, which would be launched soon, he added.

Additionally, the Chief Minister announced the upcoming launch of the first phase of a start-up scheme worth Rs. 680 crore to provide self-employment to the youth.

Chief Secretary, Prabodh Saxena, Principal Secretary, R.D. Nazim, Secretary Home, Dr. Abhishek Jain, Managing Director HRTC, Rohan Chand Thakur, Labor Commissioner, Mansi Sahay Thakur, Director Digital Technology and Governance, Mukesh Repswal, Director Transport, Anupam Kashyap and senior officials were present in the meeting.