The ministry for road transport and highways has objected to the Niti Aayog’s proposal to appoint itself as the implementing agency for India’s Electric Vehicle (EV) Mission 2030.
“Niti Aayog’s role is to develop good policies and they should do that. They should not become an implementing agency. Implementation should be given to anybody deemed to be fit by the Cabinet,” Nitin Gadkari, minister for road transport and highways, said in an interview.
He said the idea of bringing all EV issues at one place is very welcome but the matter of who should implement it is something Niti Aayog can only suggest as part of its policy recommendations—and not take a final call on it. The decision can be taken up by the Cabinet. The minister’s remarks came as the government think tank Niti Aayog prepared Electric Vehicle Policy to drive India’s Electric Vehicle Mission 2030 under which the government plans to make a mass shift to electric vehicles by 2030. This includes both personal and commercial vehicles.
“The road ministry has also objected to some other provisions of the Niti Aayog policy,” said a senior government official on condition of anonymity. “These include the formation of a committee under the finance minister to prepare the roadmap for the policy. We have suggested that ministries which are stakeholders in the EV mission plan should be made part of this committee which at present is not there. These include ministries of heavy industries, transportation, power etc” he said, adding that the road ministry has raised three or four objections.
Queries emailed to Niti Aayog remained unanswered.
Niti Aayog circulated the draft Electric Vehicle Policy among various ministries, including ministries of road transport and highways and heavy industries and power, in October and November, seeking their comments.
