Nagpur to witness e-taxi trial run in May

Nagpur will be the first city to witness the first electric taxi trial in the country on May 24, said Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari.

Gadkari was in the Maharastra city to inspect the Eastern Peripheral Express, where he announced that Mahindra and Mahindra will be providing 200 taxis for the first of its kind government project, undertaken by Nagpur Municipal Corporation.

"We wanted to start the project early but there are some problems in setting up charging stations," Gadkari said.

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Over the past one year, the road ministry has been trying to work on pollution reduction technologies for vehicles, a scheme under which it has also started an electric bus for Members of Parliament.

Talking of the Eastern Peripheral Expressway project, it is estimated to cost about Rs 5,763-crore and would decongest Delhi, while also becoming India's first 135 km green road having advanced traffic system and lit entirely by solar panels.

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The expressway will pass through Sonipat, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, Faridabad and Palwal in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, crossing Yamuna river at Khurrampur/Khata in UP and Faizpur Khadar in Haryana and Hindon river in UP.