Odisha ministers, babus to ride hybrid vehicles soon

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government will soon procure hybrid vehicles for ministers and senior government officials.

The Finance department has recently received the approval of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for procurement of Hybrid vehicles for the official use of ministers, Chief Secretary, Principal Secretaries, Commissioners-cum-Secretaries, District Judges, District Collectors and SPs, said an official today.

Soon after receiving the Chief Minister’s approval, the Finance department has sought the views of the Commerce and Transport department regarding the available models of hybrid vehicles, their price range, mileage and maintenance cost for fixing modalities for procurement of such vehicles for government functionaries, he added.

“The Commerce and Transport department has written to the Transport Commission to discuss the issue at a meeting of the Technical Committee of the State Transport Authority (STA) and furnish a detailed report regarding the availability of hybrid vehicles in the market,” said the official.

If required, experts from hybrid vehicle manufacturing firms may be consulted or invited to participate in the meeting of the STA Technical Committee, he added.