Mobility service provider Uber has entered into a partnership with SUN Mobility, aimed at reducing the overall cost burden for Uber driver-partners.
SUN Mobility will offer its unique energy infrastructure platform, which includes swappable smart batteries and quick interchange stations to select original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for building e-autos.
Fleet owners and Uber’s driver partners will benefit by receiving charged, swappable batteries as a service by SUN Mobility, thereby reducing the overall cost of e-autos to bring them in line with CNG, petrol- and diesel-powered ones.
“We are delighted to partner with SUN Mobility, an industry pioneer to try to usher in a wave of electric vehicles in the mass market category,” said Pradeep Parameswaran, President Uber, India and South Asia. “This is an important step forward in fulfilling our vision for creating a mobility ecosystem that is sustainable, provides cleaner air and helps build smarter cities across the region,” he added.
Commenting on the prospects of the partnership, Chetan Maini, Co-Founder and Vice-Chairman of SUN Mobility said, “Our mission is to give users a cost-effective and convenient energy infrastructure solution to accelerate the adoption of EVs (electric vehicles).’’
In line with the government’s vision to phase out internal combustion engine three-wheelers by 2023 and two-wheelers by 2025, the partnership will be piloted in select cities over the coming months. This could help bridge the demand-supply gap and build a more sustainable future for transport in India and beyond, an Uber newsroom release said.
Reform farm sector and conserve water: Naidu
The Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu has called for introducing structural reforms in the agricultural sector along with financial assistance schemes like Direct Benefit Transfer to make agriculture profitable and sustainable.
He was addressing the gathering after inaugurating the Mukhya Mantri Krishi Ashirwad Yojna of the Jharkhand Government, in Ranchi, Jharkhand today. Lauding the Jharkhand government for coming up with the scheme, he expressed hope that it would go a long way in addressing agricultural distress in the state, said a PIB release.
Under the scheme, all the small and marginal farmers of the state, who have arable land up to a maximum of 5 acres, will be given a grant-in-aid at the rate of Rs 5,000 per acre per year, which will also reduce their dependence on loans. This amount would be given in two installments through Direct Benefit Transfer to the beneficiary’s bank account. This will be in addition to PM Kisan Nidhi Yojana under which each small & marginal farmer’s family having combined landholding/ ownership of up to two hectares is paid Rs 6,000 per year, said the Vice President.
Naidu opined that Direct Benefit Transfer would eliminate middlemen and ensure that every penny of the financial assistance given by the government reaches the beneficiaries.
The Vice President said that the Government of India had taken a firm resolve to double the income of farmers by 2022. He added that the government was continuously increasing the minimum support price of food grains to achieve this objective.
He asserted that development would be meaningless until the benefits of progress reached the rural areas and made the lives of our farmers better.
The Vice President also stressed the need for water conservation and said that “Conservation of natural resources like water is essential. For this, a massive campaign of rainwater conservation should be carried out, which will replenish our ground water.”
He cautioned that groundwater levels are continuously falling due to uncontrolled exploitation of groundwater. Due to which the cost of irrigation is increasing. The Vice President also urged the farmers to adopt traditional techniques to support groundwater conservation.
The Governor of Jharkhand, Draupadi Murmu, the Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Raghuvar Das, the Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, Harivansh Narayan Singh, the Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Co-operative Department, Government of Jharkhand, Randhir Kumar Singh, and others were present on the occasion.
News and pix source: PIB.
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