With over 18 lakh electric vehicles registered in the country, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Maharashtra are emerging as the leading states in EV sales. The Minister for Road Transport and Highways said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha that the maximum number of electric vehicles have been registered in Uttar Pradesh (4,14,978), followed by Delhi (1,83,74) and Maharashtra (1,83,74). number comes. 79,087). Gadkari further said that Maharashtra has the maximum number of operational public EV charging stations (PCS) at 660, followed by Delhi (539) and Tamil Nadu (439).
He said that a total of 5,151 public EV charging stations are operational in India. Responding to a separate question, Gadkari said that with the implementation of the electronic fee collection system, traffic congestion at fee plazas on highways has reduced considerably.
He said, “In order to eliminate any congestion along the National Highways, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is working on the implementation of a hassle-free user fee collection system based on advanced technologies.” Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology.
According to the minister, a pilot project of the ANPR-based system has been implemented along parts of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway. In this system, applicable user fee is deducted from the FASTag on the basis of entry and exit of vehicles as captured by ANPR cameras.
Responding to another question, Gadkari said that there are 719 such projects in various states where the construction work of National Highways has been delayed to some extent due to delayed monsoon in many states and the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the Char Dham road project, Gadkari said that out of 53 packages with a total length of 825 km in Uttarakhand, 43 packages with a total length of 683 km have been approved.
“Out of these, 21 packages with a length of 291 km have been completed, 2 packages are yet to be awarded, 1 package was not sanctioned and the remaining 19 packages with a length of 366 km are under various stages of progress,” he added. ”
The Char Dham road project was originally scheduled for completion by March 2022. However, the program got delayed mainly due to litigation related to forest and environment clearances in various courts.
The project will be reviewed/ reviewed by a High Powered Committee (HPC) for non-strategic roads (Rudraprayag-Gaurikund and Dharasu Mod-Jankichatti) and an inspection committee for strategic roads (Rishikesh-Mana, Rishikesh-Gangotri and Tanakpur-Pithoragarh). is being monitored. Constituted on the instructions of the Supreme Court
Gadkari said the approval and completion of the remaining part of the project depended on the finalization of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) and execution of works as per the directions of the committee.