Amitabh Kant highlights urgent need to improve urban air quality

New Delhi: G20 Sherpa and former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Saturday highlighted the urgent need for improving urban air quality and advocated for a nationwide shift to electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030.

Speaking with NDTV on enhancing India's urban sustainability and resilience, Kant emphasised the critical need to tackle urban air quality, noting that 42 cities in India rank among the world's most polluted.

In addition, he advocated for a nationwide shift to EVs by 2030, citing their economic viability and increasing consumer demand.

"We need to focus on transportation in a very big way and ensure that these cities all go electric by 2030," G20 Sherpa said.

"The priority should be that in the next four to five years, two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and buses all go electric in the next five years and by 2030 even all four-wheelers go electric," he added.

Kant also mentioned that the government has already taken the initiative to procure 10,000 buses.

"They have allocated about Rs 57,000 crore, which is almost $7 billion. It's one of the biggest programmes of the government," he said.

The former NITI Aayog CEO also applauded India's progress in renewable energy, having exceeded COP21 targets with 200 gigawatts already generated.