Committed to encourage induction of EVs, development of charging infra at airports: AAI

New Delhi [India], November 10 : In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of transitioning towards e-Mobility, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said it was consistently endeavouring towards switching over to electric vehicles (EVs), encouraging airport service providers for inducting EVs and developing charging infrastructure at airports.
AAI also said it initially inducted 10 e-vehicles for official use at its corporate and regional headquarters in New Delhi under the green initiative. Today, AAI said a total of 45 of e-vehicles had been engaged at AAI airports' offices across the country through direct purchase for original equipment manufacturers/hiring for airside operations' city-side usage.
According to an AAI statement, India is among a handful of countries that support the global EV30@30 campaign, which targets to have at least 30 per cent new vehicle sales be electric by 2030. The statement said the government desires EV penetration of 30 per cent for private cars, 70 per cent for commercial vehicles and 80 per cent for two- and three-wheelers by 2030.
The EV30@30 campaign, according to the statement, redefines the ambition of the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM)'s Electric Vehicles Initiative (EVI), setting the objective to reach a 30 per cent sales share for EVs by 2030. It said that the CEM brings together the world's largest and leading countries, international organisations and companies to achieve a single mission and accelerate clean energy transitions.
AAI is focusing on consideration to EVs while hiring/leasing/purchasing against replacement of AAI-owned internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles which are fulfilling condemnation norms. Actions have been taken by AAI for switching over from existing AAI diesel, petrol, CNG vehicles to e-vehicles at various AAI airports along with charging stations to ensure proper charging facility, the AAI statement said.
Electric vehicles (EV) can be charged in a variety of ways, depending on location and requirement. Accordingly, public charging infrastructure for EVs is of different types and designed for different applications. The statement also said AAI was encouraging government organisations/public sector undertakings (PSU) /government discoms and similar other public entities to build and operate public EV charging infrastructure at parking lots of airports as well as airside area.
The authority said AAI as a responsible organisation was committed to achieving 100 per cent target for switching over to electric vehicles by 2030.