Gujarat launches new subsidy scheme for E-Vehicles

On September 17, 2020, the Chief Minister of Gujarat Vijay Rupani announced a subsidy scheme for electric vehicles. The scheme was launched in order to celebrate the 70th birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Key features of the scheme

Under the scheme, the students will get a subsidy of Rs 12,000 to buy e-vehicles. Also, the state government is to provide financial assistance of Rs 48,000 for the purchase of 5,000 e-rickshaws for individuals and institutional beneficiaries.

Other Schemes

A subsidy scheme of Rs 5 lakhs was also announced. This will help in setting up infrastructure facilities for charging battery powered vehicles.

Background

The total installed electricity capacity of the state of Gujarat is 35,500 MW. Of this the renewable energy contributes to around 30 %. This is greater than that of the national average which is 23 %.

Memorandum of Understandings

• The Chief Minister also signed a memorandum of understanding with 10 organisations to increase the use of renewable energy through usage of geoinformatics and space Technology. The MoUs will also work on mitigating the effects of climate change.
• One of the MoUs was signed with the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad for climate policy matters and climate finance.
• The Gujarat government also signed an agreement with the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar on research and to enhance the public utility of scientific information in the field of climate change and on capacity building.
• Agreements were also signed with Gujarat Gas and Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation to increase the usage of clean fuels and to formulate codes on energy saving. These codes are to be implemented in houses through the chief town planner.

Seva Saptah

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday falls on September 17. Since 2017, the day is being celebrated as Seva Diwas. This year Seva Saptah (week) was organised between September 14, 2020 and September 20, 2020.

The Gujarat government also launched several other schemes to celebrate the birthday of the Prime Minister. They are as follows

• Organic farming scheme was launched that you provide a monthly financial assistance of Rs 900 to the farmers.
• Water supply projects for 205 villages of Narmada and Tapi district were launched.
• Rs 1000 crores were provided to more than 10 lakh women in Gujarat. This will help them start their own businesses.

Month: Current Affairs - September, 2020