India To Get Transport System a la London?

New Delhi: Minister for Road, Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari on Monday said he will meet the Mayor of London to boost the government's efforts to adopt the London transport system, including electric double-decker buses.

Addressing a two-day conference on "Smart Mobility" here, Gadkari said the meeting was scheduled for next month in Delhi and its outcome would be a huge transformation in terms of transportation design, cost effectiveness and solution to the traffic congestion.

"The London Mayor is coming here next month. We will sign a pact to adopt the London transport system. The electric double-decker buses and many other things have to be adopted from them," said Gadkari.

Smart Mobility conference will focus on various topics such as smart transportation and multi-modal integration to develop an efficient public transport, among others.

He further mentioned that there was a lot of potential in the London transport model to enhance e-mobility in India and his ministry was engaging with them to scope out synergies in implementing the same model in various cities like Varanasi, Nagpur and Pune.

Emphasising on the use of green fuels, Gadkari said that India was an electric-surplus and coal-surplus country and the nation could capitalize on this advantage to become an all-electric vehicle hub in the world.

"At present, there are 200 electric taxis in Nagpur with 200 charging stations and by next month, the charging capacity for more than 10,000 cars would be created. The government is planning to increase the number of electric taxis from 200 to 2,000 in Nagpur.

"Increasing production will also reduce the cost of lithium-ion battery over time, which almost makes up for 40 per cent of the total cost of an electric vehicle," said Gadkari.

The minister also called for the need to use pollution-free methanol as fuel in vehicles.

"Sweden is a perfect example, where an efficient system has been developed for substituting diesel by methanol as fuel. Research in converting carbon dioxide to methanol is promising and can be a game changer for the economy," said Gadkari.

The minister said his ministry was also working on plans to widen roads from Dhaula Kuan to Teen Murti Road.

"This road from Dhaula Kuan to Teen Murti Road has major problems. The entire road will soon be widened," said Gadkari.