AP planning to attract Rs.30,000 crore-investment in EV manufacturing

Visakhapatnam YSRCP Parliamentary Party leader V. Vijaya Sai Reddy on Friday said the Andhra Pradesh Government is attracting an investment of Rs.30,000 crore in electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing and sought a nation-wide approach to contain the growing menace of air pollution.

He said Andhra Pradesh plans to attract massive investments and create 60,000 jobs in the EV manufacturing sector and plans to introduce 10 lakh EVs by 2024. The government is developing a holistic research and development ecosystem, together with manufacturing units, to propel EV growth in Andhra Pradesh and mitigate the adverse impact caused by vehicular pollution.

Moving a private members' resolution in Rajya Sabha, Reddy said AP led by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has initiated a slew of measures to put air pollution under control.

He said air quality in India has deteriorated significantly over the past two decades. Today, air pollution is the second largest risk factor, he said, pointing out that it is contributing to the country's disease burden after child and maternal under-nutrition .The main sources of air pollution include vehicle exhaust, heavy industry such as power generation and get compounded due to seasonal emissions from dust storms, forest fires and wind

conditions. Extreme air pollution from these sources affects millions of people in densely populated regions who are exposed to thick, toxic smog for long periods of time.

Reddy suggested treatment of air pollution as a multi-State issue, a global and borderless issue and work out solutions that will be all encompassing and widespread.

The YSRCP leader appreciated the commitments made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the COP26 to cut the country's emissions to net zero by 2070. With these announcements, India has shown its commitment to walk the talk and take a lead in mitigating climate risk, despite having low per capita emissions.

On steps being taken by Andhra Pradesh, he said the State has not only been meticulously tracking the air

pollution levels in urban hubs but has also initiated multifaceted schemes to tackle the problem.

He informed that the State Government will provide Rs.639 crore as gap funding for implementation of the Clean Air Andhra Pradesh programme to reduce air pollution over the next five years.

Reddy said as part of the action plan, a massive environment awareness campaign will be undertaken involving youth, communities and people from various sectors including civil society organizations. The government has also appealed to all industrial representatives to contribute part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds to the Clean Air Andhra Pradesh programme and be a part of the ecosystem restoration process in providing clean air to the people in the municipal towns that are closer to their industries and factories.

He said their plan is to make Andhra Pradesh an EV hub and pioneer the growth of green technology in the country. The State plans to provide electric two-wheelers to its State Government employees on the basis of EMI. This will not only cover current employees of the State Government also the cooperative societies, public sector undertakings, and pensioners. The focus will especially be on rural areas, where village or ward secretariat staff and other low-paid employees would benefit from the project.

The YSRCP leader said it is the need of the hour that all representative and governance bodies come together and join hands to find scientific and sustainable solutions to this menace immediately.