State-owned WAPCOS Ltd will sign an agreement next week with ropeway and cable car giant Doppelmayr Garaventa Group, as it looks at alternative means of public transport to replace petrol and diesel buses to cut oil imports.
WAPCOS Limited is a public sector undertaking consultancy firm attached to the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
“We are working on public transport system run on electricity. Next week, WAPCOS will sign an agreement with Doppelmayr to build ropeways and cable cars,” Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Shipping, Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, said at India Chem 2018.
“We have identified 100 spots across Badrinath, Kedarnath, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and hilly areas where, instead of diesel and petrol buses, we can use ropeways and cable cars,” Gadkari said adding that the government is formulating a policy for public transport based on electricity for big cities.
Such new initiatives are very important for the country because it is import substitute, cost-effective and pollution-free, he said.
The Austrian-Swiss Doppelmayr/Garaventa group is the world’s No.1 manufacturer of ropeways, cable cars and ski lifts. Gadkari also said that one of the lanes on the planned 12-lane highway between Mumbai and Delhi will be electric, allowing 40-tonne to ply.