New Delhi, Nov 10 (IANS): In line with the government's vision of transitioning towards e-Mobility, thee Airports Authority of India (AAI) is endeavoring towards switching over to electric vehicles (EVs), encouraging airport service providers for inducting them, and developing charging infrastructure at airports.

Initially, the AAI inducted 10 EVs for official use at its corporate and regional headquarters at New Delhi under a green initiative. Currently, a total of 45 EVs have been engaged at AAI airports and offices spread across the country for airside operations and city side usage requirements, said an AAI official on Thursday.

India is among a handful of countries that support the global EV30@30 campaign, which targets to have at least 30 per cent new vehicle sales be electric by 2030. The government has set a target of EV penetration of 30 per cent for private cars, 70 per cent for commercial vehicles, and 80 per cent for two and three-wheelers by 2030.

Officials said that the AAI is encouraging government organisations and other public entities to build and operate public EV charging infrastructure at parking lots of airports as well as air side area. EVs can be charged in a variety of ways, depending on location and requirement. Accordingly, public charging infrastructure for EVs is of different types and designed for different applications.

Officials said that AAI is focusing on consideration to EVs while hiring or purchasing against replacement. Actions have been taken by AAI for switching over from existing AAI diesel, petrol, and CNG vehicles to e-vehicles at various AAI airports along with charging stations to ensure proper charging facility.

The number of vehicles in India has been increasing rapidly over the last decade. However, vehicles driven on fossil fuels are a major source of environmental pollution and pose serious health hazards and stocks of fossil fuels are fast depleting across the globe. The situation demands that alternative clean, eco-friendly technologies be explored for running of vehicles. The AAI, as a responsible organisation, is committed for achieving the 100 per cent target for switching over to EVs by 2030, said AAI in a statement on Thursday.