Nitin Gadkari encourages the use of vehicles that run on clean energy. (document)
Lord:
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari today asked banks to provide loans at lower interest rates to those seeking to buy cars that run on clean energy, including flex-fuel, electricity and hydrogen.
Addressing a golden jubilee celebration at a cooperative bank in Kalyan, Maharashtra’s Thane district, the road transport and road union minister said his dream is to phase out diesel and petrol vehicles in the next four to five years.
He said that banks must rate the industry based on the performance of various parameters in the past five years, and provide loans to industries with high scores within 24 hours. Increasing credit and goodwill will be the greatest capital in the 21st century.
Commenting on the passenger benefits of public transport shifting to electric vehicles, Nitin Gadkari said the operating cost of non-air-conditioned electric buses is Rs 39 per km compared to Rs 41 per km for AC electric buses.
“All buses in cities like Thane, Kalyan can be converted to electric buses which will help to reduce fares for passengers by up to 30%,” he asserted.
Nitin Gadkari said 406 projects with a total expenditure of Rs 3.85 lakh crore had stalled due to wrong decisions, but the minister went on to add that it was also not advisable not to take any decisions for fear of going wrong.
“Bal Thackeray once gave me a quote written in acrylic. It said I like people who get things done. I like honest people who make bad decisions. I even like people who are dishonest and make bad decisions People. I don’t like people who don’t want to make decisions,” Nitin Gadkari said.
He claimed that bonds issued by his department offered better returns than deposits at cooperative banks, and said retirees and others must invest in them.
(Aside from the title, this story is unedited by NDTV staff and published via a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video of the Day
Sensex hits record high of 62,528.38 despite global downturn
