It is the unified and shared responsibility of both private stakeholders and the government to encourage electric mobility in the State, was the collective message that emerged from the ‘State-level Dialogue on EV Policy Adoption, Challenges and Opportunities’ held at Fortune Hotel, Miramar on Monday. The event was organised by LetMeBreathe, a climate change and sustainability storytelling community by PlucTV creators, in collaboration with ICLEI, South Asia, a network of more than 2500 local and regional governments, supported by a team of global experts, driving sustainable urban development worldwide.

In his address, Rohit Monserrate, Corporation of City of Panaji Mayor, said, “Policy adoption is vital, but effective implementation drives transformation. From the challenges, opportunities emerge and EV, OK Please is the way forward.”

Currently, the per capita vehicle ownership in Goa is 4.5 times the national average and the coastal state ranks 15th in vehicle density. The State has announced that all new tourist vehicles, rental cars and rental motorbikes in the state will be electric from January 2024. This throws up both challenges and opportunities for Goa.

The first panel discussion centered on ‘Policies and Infrastructure for EVs in Goa’ with panelists — Sanjay Ghate, General Manager, Kadamba Transport Corporation Limited (KTCL), Ira Prem, Project Director, MP Ensystems Advisory Pvt Ltd, Yeshwant Natekar, CEO, JNK Renewable Energy Private Limited and Deepa Chodankar, Assistant Engineer- Project Cell, Goa Tourism Development Corporation — highlighting the various aspects of policies.

“We have already implemented 50 vehicles in some parts of Panjim and the acceptance by the public is very good. In the next few months 350 more electric buses will join the fleet,” said Sanjay Ghate, General Manager, Kadamba Transport Corporation Limited (KTCL). 

Besides looking at the existing governmental efforts supporting the adoption of electric vehicles in the region, the panel looked at understanding the hurdles faced during the execution of the state’s electric vehicle policy and exploration of potential solutions. The panelists noted the synergies that exist between government, private sector entities, and community stakeholders to foster a holistic electric vehicle infrastructure that benefits all vehicle types.

The second panel looked at ‘Fostering Electric Mobility in Goa’ with panelists – Abhinav Apte, Director, Track Change, Rohan Nagarkar, Founding Partner, Cycling Zens, Agnello Gomes, Founding Director, Green Technologies and Engineers and Mihir Deshpande, Partner, Tourdal– talking about the opportunities that exist in the sector. 

“Goa can be a focal point for adoption of new technologies when it comes to electric mobility. This can go ahead with the right kind of government incentives and active participation of private players,” said Abhinav Apte, Director, Track Change.

The Goa Electric Mobility Promotion Policy 2021 aims at making the state a model of international standard for EV adoption, supported by world-class infrastructure for conversion of ICE vehicles to EVs. Last month, the Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced that all new tourist vehicles, rental cars and rental motorbikes in the state will be electric from January 2024.

“We have three key elements to make this a success– identify the stakeholders, give benefits and make the infrastructure feasible for them and lastly look at the safety of such an adoption,” said Agnello Gomes, Founding Director, Green Technologies and Engineers.

The Goa Electric Mobility Promotion Policy 2021 aims to convert 50 percent of boat ferries to electric by 2025, to convert 100 per cent of other marine vessels to hydro and to create 10,000 new direct and indirect jobs by 2025.

 “We can create attractive eco trails so that tourists can adopt sustainable tourism options,” said Mihir Deshpande, Partner, Tourdal.  “The local tourism businesses can be further incentivised to adopt EVs through tax breaks, subsidies, and charging support,” added Rohan Nagarkar, Founding Partner, Cycling Zens. 

Through the ‘EV, OK Please’ initiative, Let Me Breathe has reached out to smaller cities and towns of India to bring to fore powerful stories of electric mobility transition. The ‘EV,OK Please’ storytelling has covered diverse topics including micro mobility, empowerment, freight management, public fleets, ease of charging, etc, from areas such as Rishikesh, Jaipur, Siliguri, Jamshedpur, Goa, to name a few. Besides bringing forward stories of electric mobility, ‘EV, OK Please’, will also unveil a course for EV users and potential users, upskill them through multiple  mobile storytelling training workshops and will also engage with stakeholders through events to carry forward the conversations.

Watch the show EV OK Please on PlucTV, a creator economy and storytelling platform