1. Here's a list of all the efforts taken by the Government of India to promote electric vehicles in India, including electric trains, electric buses and electric cars; 2. Why Rajya Sabha passing National Medical Commission bill is a good thing; 3. Ferry services in North-East states! Modi government plans big inland waterways push; details here.

 

 *Narendra Modi with Elon Musk. (Image: Elon Musk/ Twitter)

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OPINION : 03/08/2019 : 1874. 

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#DEVELOPMENTS & REFORMS : BY MODI-2.0 GOVERNMENT-

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Ref : 1. Modi 2.0 Green Mobility Push in India: GST Cut on EVs, Electric Buses and More : July 27, 2019 : Arjit Garg :  News18 : PMINDIA.

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 Sub : 1. Here's a list of all the efforts taken by the Government of India to promote electric vehicles in India, including electric trains, electric buses and electric cars.

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According to a study by the World Health Organization, 9 out of every 10 people in the world breathe air that contains high levels of pollutants and kills 7 million people each year. Vehicular pollution has been a major source of air pollution and efforts are being made on a global scale to reduce the vehicular pollution as much as we can in the shortest possible time span. Electric vehicles are one such way to tackle the rising pollution levels.

However, replacing the conventionally fuelled vehicles (gasoline/ diesel/ CNG) with electric vehicles needs a lot of R&D effort, infrastructure cost and willingness of consumers to spend extra on e-vehicles. In a market like India, all three possibilities will take years of hard work and effort from governments. What can be done, though, is chart and implement a credible EV policy so that consumers have confidence in EVs.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Government of India is giving a serious push to the clean mobility initiative in the country. Recently, GST cuts were announced on EVs. PM Modi also flagged off a one-off electric locomotive that has been converted from a diesel engine. The Government also announced that they are planning to install electric chargers every 25 km on the road.

Here’s a list of all the efforts taken by the Government of India to promote electric vehicles in India, including electric trains, electric buses and electric cars!

*Jaguar I-Pace All-Electric SUV. (Image: News18)

1. GST Cut on Electric Vehicles :

In a bid to push electric mobility, the GST Council has decided to reduce tax rates on electric vehicles from 12 per cent to 5 per cent and when it comes to the EV chargers that are required to charge these electric vehicles, the tax rate has been reduced from 18 per cent to now 5 per cent. The new rates will be effective from 1st August 2019. The council further approved an exemption from GST on the hiring of electric buses by local authorities.

2. Push for Electric Cars and Bikes :

In response to a question in the Rajya Sabha, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways led by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari listed all the steps taken by the government to promote the use of electric vehicles in the country. Here are a few of them –

- Government had notified for retro-fitment of the hybrid electric system or electric kit to vehicles

- To provide EVs with a distinct identification, the registration mark for battery operated vehicles is to be on a plate with green background

- To encourage the usage of electric two-wheelers of up to 4.0KW motor, the ministry has allow granting licence to age group of 16-18 years to drive gearless e-scooters and bikes

- Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has commercialized the indigenously developed lithium-ion battery technology and has already selected 14 companies for transfer of technology, which will promote localization of the technology, thus lowering the TCO for EVs. 

*JBM Solaris Eco-Life All-Electric Bus. (Image: News18)

3. State Run Electric Buses :

A bus has to run a limited kilometers a day (Say 200km) and can be charged by a charging station in the depot itself. The Government of India has realized the potential of electric buses and pushing for more and more e-bus to ply on roads. The Ministry of Urban Development of the country recently launched the Green Urban Transport Scheme (GUTS) with the aim to reduce carbon emissions from the public transport vehicles in the country. The ministry proposed an INR 250 billion grant for developing electric vehicles for public transport.

And a lot of state governments are also supporting the cause. Electric bus manufacturers like Ashok Leyland, Goldstone Infratech, Tata Motors, JBM Auto, Solaris, BYD are all working with various state governments to electrify our public transport. Cities like Lucknow, Delhi, Sabarimala, Hyderabad have started the electric buses on trial basis or have started full-fledged commercial operations.

The government's premier think-tank body, NITI Aayog has taken an initiative to provide a Model Concessionaire Agreement (MCA) document for introducing electric-bus fleet in cities for public transportation on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode on operational expenditure (per km basis) model rather than paying the upfront capital cost. This move is said to enable manufacturers as service providers, thus leading to lower capital expenditure for the government. 

*Tata Group Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata flagging off the roll-out. (Image: Tata Motors)

4. FAME Scheme :

For promoting the adoption of electric mobility in the country, the government had launched the Phase-I of FAME India Scheme [Faster Adoption of Electric (&Hybrid) Vehicles in India] with effect from April 1, 2015. This was initially for a period of two years and has subsequently been extended till March 31, 2019. All electric and hybrid vehicles, including public transport, registered under the scheme are being incentivised under the demand-creation focus area of this scheme.

The second phase of FAME India scheme to boost clean mobility has an outlay of Rs 5,500 crore spanning five years. The scheme in its second phase will offer a bouquet of incentives, such as exemption from paying road tax, registration fee and parking charges for various categories of electric and strong hybrid vehicles.

The second phase of the scheme will be rolled out through verticals including demand incentives, a network of charging stations, pilot projects for innovative proposals, technology, technology platform for e-mobility, and its administration.

*Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspects the electric locomotive converted from a diesel engine during its flag off ceremony at Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW), in Varanasi. (Image: PTI)

5. World’s 1st Electric Train :

In a first, the Indian Railways has converted a diesel locomotive into an electric one, as part of efforts to completely electrify the broad gauge network. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also flagged off an electric locomotive converted from a diesel engine at the Diesel Locomotives Works (DLW) in his constituency of Varanasi.

The work on the project began on December 22, 2017, and from concept to execution of the conversion of the diesel locomotive to electric was carried out in just 69 days, railway officials said. In keeping with the Indian Railways' Mission 100 per cent electrification and de-carbonization agenda, DLW has developed a new prototype electric locomotive converted from diesel locomotive.

6. Setting Gigafactory in India :

As per NITI Aayog, India will need 60 GWh by 2025 and 120 by 2030. The good news is, India is in the process to get 10 GWh producing plants by 2020. Three different Lithium-ion battery (Li-ion) manufacturers are expected to set up their facilities with a combined capacity of 10 gigawatt in Telangana soon, with an investment of Rs 1,500 crore in the first phase. Director of Electronics, Telangana, Sujai Karampuri, withholding the names of the companies, said the construction of three different facilities is expected to begin in a month or two and production of the cells would begin between nine to 15 months after that. He also indicated that the initial production capacity would be ramped up from one gigawatt in the phase one to 10 gigawatt in the due course with a total investment of Rs 6000 crore.

On the other hand, state-run BHEL and Libcoin are in talks to form a consortium to initially build a 1GWh lithium-ion battery plant in India, the government has said. The plant's capacity will be scaled up to 30GWh in due course.
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#REFORMS : BY MODI-2.0 GOVERNMENT

 *Resident and junior doctors protest against the introduction of National Medical Commission (NMC) bill in Rajya Sabha, at All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) flyover, in New Delhi on Thursday, August 01, 2019. (Amal KS/HT PHOTO)

  NOTE : 1.

Ref : 2. Why Rajya Sabha passing National Medical Commission bill is a good thing | Opinion : Sanchita Sharma : Aug 01, 2019 : Hindustan Times : PMINDIA.

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Set to replace the Indian Medical Council Act that regulates medical education in India, the NMC bill has been called a visionary reform by supporters and an assault on the medical profession by critics, almost all of whom are doctors.

Sick patients were once again denied treatment by doctors on strike to protest the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill 2019 that was passed in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. Set to replace the Indian Medical Council Act that regulates medical education in India, the NMC bill has been called a visionary reform by supporters and an assault on the medical profession by critics, almost all of whom are doctors.

Doctors’ associations and students of medicine are opposing several provisions in the NMC, with the most contentious ones being the introduction of a common National Exit Test (NEXT) in the final year of medical studies.

The NMC attempts to standardise the quality of doctors by introducing a common National Exit Test in the final year of MBBS along the lines of the National Entrance -cum- Eligibility Test (NEET) for admission to undergraduate courses. NEXT results will be used to both select students for post-graduate courses and to provide graduates, including those who have studied medicine overseas, with a licence to practice in India.

The provision of training nursing and allied health professionals as community health providers will make preventive and primary healthcare less dependent on doctors, who will then freed up to provide secondary and advanced care. Around 3.5 lakh community health providers are being trained to work in Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Clinics being set up for every 5,000 population across states. More than half of India’s population still has no access to primary health services, which can provide 80%-90% of healthcare needs of any given population across a lifetime, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Trained community health providers can help make up for the shortfall of doctors and nurses to improve outreach. There were 1,157,771 allopathic doctors registered with the state medical councils/Medical Council of India as on January 31, 2019, to treat a population of 1.3 billion. Assuming 80% availability, it is estimated that around 9.26 lakh doctors are in active service, which makes India’s doctor-population ratio 1:1,457, minister of state for health and family welfare, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, told the Lok Sabha in May. The World Health Organisation recommends a doctor-population ratio of 1:1,000.

The IMA and its 3,05,458 members have challenged the mostly-nominated structure of the NMC, which will have 25 members operating through four subsidiary boards regulating undergraduate education; postgraduate education; medical assessment and rating; and ethics and medical registration. Only five members will be elected, with the non-elected members being either government officials or those nominated by the government.

The IMA wants the nominated members be replaced by elected doctors, which is the model that has been tainted by the scam-riddled Medical Council of India, which, for decades, was controlled by a cartel of doctors. In contrast, the nominated boards of All India Institute of Medical Sciences and the National Board of Examinations, which is an autonomous body for postgraduate medical education and examination, have nominated, yet independent boards.

Past attempts to reform the MCI, both through the setting up of the National Commission for Human Resources in Health and amending the MCI Act, over the past decade have failed. It’s critical to reform and standardise medical education to provide quality healthcare with equity. Around 80% of India’s registered doctors work in cities, which is home to 31% of the country’s population. Private hospitals are heavily skewed in favour of Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities, which leaves the rural population heavily dependent on under-staffed public health centres and government hospitals.

Trained and licenced community health providers will strengthen preventive and primary care at the health sub-centres at the village level and substantially reduce out-of-pocket spending on treatment. Doctors are the pillars of public health delivery. It will be a disaster if they do not embrace change and work with government to provide strong primary health care rooted in community participation to respond to emerging and existing diseases, evolving health needs and environmental challenges to prevent disease and improve outcomes.
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REFORMS : BY MODI-2.0 GOVERNMENT 

NOTE:2.

*Other than bringing ease of movement, the waterways projects will also help generate employment locally. (representative image: IE)

 Ref : 3. Ferry services in North-East states! Modi government plans big inland waterways push; details here : August 1, 2019 : Devanjana Nag : Financial Express : PMINDIA

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The public sector company WAPCOS is preparing a model detailed project report (DPR) for implementing projects for running low-cost ferry services in the inland waterways in North-East states of the country.

Ferry services in North-East India: The Narendra Modi government is keen to start inland waterways navigation and passenger transportation in North-Eastern states! With transportation still being a big challenge in various parts of North-East India, due to lack of railway infrastructure, the Ministry of Shipping is planning to come up with inland waterways transport. Once implemented, this mode of transport will allow people to opt for convenient and low-cost travel. Recently, Shipping Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that the public sector company WAPCOS is preparing a model detailed project report (DPR) for implementing projects for running low-cost ferry services in the inland waterways in North-East states of the country.

According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Shipping, Mandaviya said that the model DPR, prepared by WAPCOS, can be adopted for quick implementation by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) in consultation with the different state governments in the North-East region. The minister also said that the inland waterways transport can be a game-changer for the states of North East India as due to difficult terrain, the land routes here are often long, circuitous and time-consuming. Other than bringing ease of movement, the waterways projects will also help generate employment locally, Mandaviya added.

Meanwhile, in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha last month, Mandaviya said that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between India and Maldives on Passenger and Cargo Services in Male. According to him, this will improve people to people contact between the two nations by providing an alternate, direct and less expensive transport mode for passengers and goods. The move is expected to improve economic, social and cultural ties between the two countries as well. According to the minister, the MoU envisaged a regular passenger and cargo ferry service between Kochi and Male/Kulhudhuffushi, or any other ports mutually agreed upon. He believes that sea connectivity between India and Maldives would help to promote inbound tourism, particularly health and wellness tourism.

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JAY HIND

JAY BHARATHAM

VANDE MATARAM

BHARAT MATA KI JAY

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