In a bid to boost the Indian e-vehicle market, India’s first 100 percent indigenously designed as well as developed E-Rickshaw or e-vehicle (called E-Raaja) has been launched. The ICAT-approved eight e-vehicles, including commercial and passenger vehicles, were launched recently.

Such efforts like e-rickshaw will help in the fight against air pollution in big cities such as Delhi and Mumbai and give a fillip to green business. The developments augur well for tackling climate change and global warming and reducing carbon footprint.

“In line with the government’s vision of a 100 percent e-mobility by 2030, we have launched multiple-usage e-vehicles. While our e-vehicles will be in market in April, launch of e-two-wheelers will take time and will be launched after government approval,” said India Managing Director Rajan Handa of OK Play, the company manufacturing the units.

The e-vehicles include e-rickshaw, e-mobile shops, e-vending carts, e-loaders, e-school buses, e-garbage collectors, and e-scooters. The e-vehicles, under the brand name E-Raaja, are priced between Rs. 1.25 and 1.5 lakh. OK Play also showcased six e-two wheelers scheduled to be launched in Indian market after government approval.

Asked whether OK Play is looking at exporting those e-vehicles or e-rickshaws, Handa said, “We are in discussion. We are looking at exporting in the Middle East and Africa.”

OK Play plans to manufacture e-vehicles from six units spread across India and also plans to put up four more manufacturing units in the near future.

Other similar developments in green energy generation

Recently, the world’s biggest floating solar power plant has been made operational in Huainan city, Eastern China. The 40-MW plant is situated on a reservoir and is in close proximity to the city. Offshore from Huainan, the plant has been successfully connected with the power grid. Being offshore, it doesn’t take up a lot of space and uses even less energy than the traditional solar farms as the seawater acts as a natural coolant. Sungrow, which is the world’s leading photovoltaic system supplier, is the company that has set up the plant. In fact, floating solar power plants could be set up even on water bodies such as the lakes and seas. The floating wind energy farms are particularly helpful near cities, where land availability is less.

Global warming and climate can be battled through innovation like e-rickshaw

Global warming, climate change, and environmental degradation confront mankind, although it’s another matter that US President Donald Trump has pulled the USA out of the Paris Climate Accord. NASA—also part of the United States—figures point out globally temperatures have increased by over 1 degree since 1880; also, 9 out of the 10 hottest years occurred after 2000. By 2012, Arctic ice shrank to the lowest level. Internationally, sea levels are going up at 3.4 mm per year. It is just a matter of time before human habitation, particularly in the coastal areas, starts getting submerged. Moreover, students in the Netherlands have built the world’s first biodegradable car Lina that is electric-powered. The parts of the green car have been made from sugar beet as well as flax.

India faces air pollution and environmental degradation

There is an environmental crisis staring at us. Despite several measures being taken at the Centre and state levels, there has been no let-up in air pollution levels and particulate matter pollutants in the air. Delhi Smog was a scary case. It was a reality check of the pollution in India’s big cities. Air quality reduced to hazardous levels. A World Health Organization(WHO)’s study of 1,600 cities ranks the national capital Delhi as the most polluted. Air pollution was 40 times more than permissible safety limits prescribed by the WHO and 15 times greater than Indian standards. It’s high time one takes the cue from such technologies. The time to act is now.

This is great news on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who was a great environmentalist.

A part of the post was first published on Business World Disrupt by the same author

About the author: I am an environmentalist, technology evangelist, women empowerment advocate, writer and editor. Basically I am a storyteller at heart and want to make the world a better place. I want to be the catalyst for making the world green and clean and rid the Earth of disasters like global warming and climate change. You can mail me at muqbil.ahmar@gmail.com or connect with me through LinkedIn, Twitter, together with Facebook. Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

About Muqbil Ahmar

Editor-in-Chief and Founder at greenubuntu.com. I am an environmentalist, technology evangelist, fitness expert, actor, writer and editor. With more than 15 years in media, I want to be the catalyst for making the world green and rid it of disasters like global warming, climate change, green house effect, pollution, environment degradation, etc. I want to reduce the carbon footprint of humanity for a sustainable development model. I am the author of books such as Artificial Intelligence Made Simple: Learn How AI Is Going to Change Your Life Forever; JNU Days, etc. They are available on Amazon.in. My articles have been published on various mainline media platforms such as FirstPost, Forbes, TechStory, Greenpeace, The Hindu, Business World, DailyO, Inc. 42, CXO Today, Sify. Experfy, BBN Times.Com, etc. I love to write on tech, economy, films, arts and culture, and other diverse subjects. You can connect with me on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.