The transport department has already consulted stakeholders, but we are still open to suggestions from the public," Singh said. Dhakane also said the government would convert 15 per cent of the existing intercity bus fleet of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation to electric ones. He said some 32,000 electric vehicles in various categories are registered in the state at present. "The state intends on making the under construction Mumbai Nagpur Expressway and Mumbai Pune Expressway, Mumbai- Nashik and Nashik-Pune highways fully EV ready by 2025," he said. Along with the EV policy, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board is undertaking a parallel exercise to build draft rules on recycling lithium-ion batteries and associated electronic waste, MPCB chief Sudhir Srivastava said.

Source: Mint May 29, 2021 02:46 UTC