Shimla, Jan 10 (IANS) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu on Saturday chaired a review meeting of the Transport and Labour and Employment Departments and said that petrol taxis in the state would be replaced with electric vehicles in a phased manner.

In the first phase, 1,000 petrol taxis would be replaced with e-taxis under the Rajiv Gandhi Start-up Scheme.

The state government would provide a 40 per cent subsidy to taxi owners for this purpose. He directed the Transport Department to complete the process as soon as possible.

The replaced petrol-based taxis would be scrapped at registered centres. CM Sukhu said that to strengthen transport facilities in rural areas, the state government would allocate permits for 390 routes for private bus operations.

The government would also provide a 30 per cent subsidy for this. This would provide better transport facilities to people in rural areas and also create employment opportunities.

The Chief Minister said that the state government was committed to working towards environmental protection and promoting self-employment.

In the first phase of the Rs 680-crore Rajiv Gandhi Start-up Scheme, subsidy is being provided for the purchase of e-taxis. This is an important step towards promoting electric vehicles and making the youth self-reliant.

He said that under the Rajiv Gandhi E-Taxi Scheme, eligible youth are given a 50 per cent subsidy and a guarantee of deploying their vehicles in government departments.

The meeting was attended, among others, by Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Anirudh Singh, Principal Advisor to the Chief Minister (Innovation, Digital Technology and Governance) Gokul Butail, Additional Chief Secretary R.D. Nazeem, Secretary Priyanka Basu Ingty, Chief Minister’s Secretary Rakesh Kanwar, Labour Commissioner Virendra Sharma.

–IANS

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