Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has said that the government is working on developing electric highways powered by solar energy. He said it will facilitate the charging of heavy duty trucks and buses while running.
Inaugurating virtually the 19th Indo-US Economic Summit of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce yesterday, Mr. Gadkari said that India is becoming the largest EV market for electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and cars. and the government is strongly encouraging solar and wind energy-based charging mechanism for electric mobility.
He said US-based companies can collaborate with India’s research and development efforts toward EV battery technologies and retrofitting industry.
Mr. Gadkari said that Road infrastructure plays a critical role in the growth of the Indian economy as 70 per cent of goods and nearly 90 per cent of passenger traffic uses the road network to commute. In 2014, the country had around 91 thousand Kilometers of National Highway network which has now reached one lakh 47 thousand kilometers now.
He mentioned that the Government is dedicated to working towards expanding the National Highway network to 2 lakh kilometers by 2025. The Union Minister also informed that the government is constructing 27 Greenfield Expressways of ten thousand kilometers across the country with an investment of five lakh crore rupees.
He informed that these corridors result in a 14 per cent reduction in travel distance between the key economic centers and this would further ensure a reduction in Transportation cost by 2.5 per cent.
