New Industrial policy to focus on electric vehicles: Amarinder

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today said the state is planning to shift to the environment-friendly electric vehicles in a big way, with the new industrial policy to be significantly focused on the same. This was disclosed by Capt Singh at a meeting here with Mahindra & Mahindra Managing Director Pawan Goenka. Mr Goenka said his company was keenly interested in investing in promoting electric vehicles in Punjab.

He suggested a scheme to bring in electric taxis to propagate green energy and generate employment in the state. The Chief Minister pointed out that Chinese energy major Yinlong also recently discussed with him the possibility of launching electric cars and buses in state. The government was also in talks with Ola for electric taxis, he added. His government, said Capt Singh, was keen to explore electric vehicles as a replacement for the traditional, more polluting petrol and diesel-run vehicles in the state. An official spokesperson said after the meeting that a proposal to launch an Uber-like app for tractors, called Tringo, was also discussed at the meeting. The app would enable owners to rent out their tractors, said the spokesperson. The Chief Minister responded favourably to Mr Goenka’s request for expansion of their tractor units in Punjab and asked the company to submit a proposal.

Urging the company to support the state’s efforts to provide employment to youth, the Chief Minister offered help to Tech Mahindra in setting up a BPO in Mohali after Goenka said there was huge potential in the IT sector for job creation. Terming employment generation as the state’s biggest challenge, the chief minister urged Goenka to ensure that the company has an effective presence in the upcoming job fair in Mohali.

Mahindra & Mahindra was also interested in potato seed development for exports, according to Goenka. The chief minister reiterated his stand on promoting crop diversification in Punjab through horticulture and floriculture, stressing the need to change the crop patterns to save the distressed farmers from their cycle of debt, he added.