‘E-Amrit’: Government’s Web Portal on Electric Vehicles
India launched a one-stop destination for all information on electric vehicles named ‘e-Amrit’ at the COP26 Summit in Glasgow on November 10, 2021. The portal has been developed by NITI Aayog & the UK Government as part of the ‘UK-India Joint Roadmap 2030’.
It aims at creating awareness about electric mobility in India and ‘e-Amrit’ stands for ‘Accelerated e-Mobility Revolution for India’s Transportation.
The portal can be reached at: https://e-amrit.niti.gov.in/home
From subsidies for consumers & manufacturers to charging facility locations & financing options, the goal is to boost consumer knowledge. As the consumer learns more about electric vehicles, its benefits and the options available, and as the government addresses worries & myths regarding EVs, more and more people will consider electric mobility over fossil-fuel driven conventional vehicles.
Overview of the Portal:
Browsing through the portal makes one thing very clear: It is a well-designed, well-planned website.
The first dropdown in the website addresses the core points regarding EVs. It focuses on the benefits of electric vehicles, types of electric vehicles, financing options, insurance options, electric vehicle incentives & common EV myths.
There are direct links to resources that shed light on national-level policies, state-level policies, standards & specifications, various reports & articles, etc. There are tools for the calculation of cost for home charging & public charging. There are details about EV manufacturers & service providers (charging, battery recycling, etc).
The dashboard has an easy and attractive interface.
The portal also informs the visitors about ongoing campaigns regarding EVs in various cities across India. There is a section: ‘E-Mobility at a Glance’ which shows various figures & achievements related to EVs in India. Some of these are:
No. of EV manufacturers operating in India: 380
No. of EV charging stations installed: 1800
Percentage growth in EV sales from FY15 to FY20: 133%
No. of states that have notified EV policies: 25
No. of EVs registered till date: 7.96 lakh
Percentage of all vehicle sales that were electric in FY21-22: 1.32%
These figures are updated on a daily basis on the portal.
Apart from the above, the latest news regarding EVs is updated on the website. One-touch links to websites of the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Ministry of Heavy Industries, Ministry of Power, NITI Aayog, FAME 2, EESL, etc are given.
The current total visitor count on the portal is in excess of 50,000.
Significance of the Portal:
The e-AMRIT portal aims to showcase the initiatives of the central government on raising awareness and making consumers acquainted with the benefits of adopting EVs.
The e-AMRIT portal is an effort by the government to influence millions of potential consumers to adopt electric vehicles. The portal has been created to address the needs and priorities of future EV users, early EV adopters, industry, research community, etc.
India has been implementing various initiatives for accelerating the decarbonization of transport and increasing the adoption of electric mobility in the country. PLI, FAME 1, FAME 2, Model Building Bye-Laws Amendments, NEMMP are some of the schemes that are significant in the creation of an ecosystem for the early adoption of electric vehicles and feature prominently on the portal.
Purpose of the Portal:
1. Influencing people to switch to electric vehicles by offering insights on EV technologies, financing options, insurance options, subsidies, types of electric vehicles.
2. Assisting existing & budding market players to set up EV or associated enterprises by providing details on key initiatives of central & state governments.
3. Helping in the assessment of benefits of EVs with tools for determining savings with electric vehicles as compared to petrol or diesel vehicles via a Journey Cost Calculator: calculate the cost of the usual journeys you make in your car or on your bike, and see how much you can save by switching to electric.
4. Guiding existing EV owners by providing a ‘Charging Station Locator’.
Conclusion:
E-Amrit seeks to enable consumers to get involved in the EV revolution.
As more & more such resources are available at the disposal of citizens, the EV ecosystem will gain more traction. NITI Aayog intends to add more features and introduce innovative tools to make the portal more interactive and user-friendly in near future.
Apart from the government-run e-Amrit, there’s the ‘EV Plugs’ app that shows all EV charging stations in India. Tata Power EZ Charge mobile app facilitates locating EV charging stations in the Tata Power charging network. The Kazam app helps people find the nearest Kazam EV charging station & make payments directly from their wallets. Such initiatives by the government & industry are driving the EV revolution at an encouraging pace.
