The Environment Ministry has acquired electric cars for official use, a move aimed at reducing air pollution. According to ministry sources, five electric cars have been acquired on a trial basis out of which three have been allotted to ministry officials.

A tweet was sent out by the official Twitter handle of the ministry, stating – “@moefcc acquires Electric Cars for official duty thereby utilising in-house charging facilities and setting an example in pollution free commutes.” The tweet also displayed the electric cars – Mahindra eVeritos, attached to a charging point within the ministry campus.

As per sources cited by PTI, the three electric vehicles allotted to the officials have been specifically assigned to the officials in the ranks of joint secretary, inspector general and director general. 

The move comes as the government makes efforts to bring in an era of electric vehicles in the country. For this, the government will give priority to EVs over IC engine vehicles across all of its departments. In addition, it has provided a total of Rs 2,500 crore towards deploying 5000 electric buses across the country. Subsidies on electric vehicles for both the makers and the buyers, subsidies on EV charging infrastructure and several similar incentives have also been provided under the government’s FAME-II scheme. The government recently announced that it also planning to levy no road tax on electric vehicles, hoping to bring their cost down even further.