First in India: 200 electric taxis to run on Maharashtra’s roads on May 26

mumbai

Updated: May 18, 2017 16:21 IST

Fancy taking a ride around Nagpur in an electric taxi sometime soon? As many as 200 of these taxis — the first of their kind in the country — will hit the city’s streets on May 26.

The pet project of Union transport and shipping minister Nitin Gadkari, the project has been organised in collaboration with app-based taxi service provider Ola.

A few electric buses and autos will also be unveiled at the launch, which will be attended by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, a senior Ola official told HT.

“Mahindra and Mahindra has provided us with 200 taxis. The project, which has been undertaken by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation, will be launched at the Nagpur airport,” he said.

These taxis are expected to help tackle increasing pollution levels in the region and reduce the country’s dependence on energy imports. The project comes against the backdrop of the government’s policy of shifting to to electric vehicles by 2030.

At various parts of the city, the state government has installed two types of charging points — fast and slow-charging units. Nagpur has as many as 200 fast-charging points, which take an hour to fully charge an electric vehicle.

If the Nagpur project is successful, electric taxis will be introduced in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh too, said sources.