Pune: Govt would roll out pink electric autorickshaw scheme to support economically disadvantaged women in key cities of Maharashtra by Sept-end, state women and child development minister Aditi Tatkare told TOI on Wednesday. In the first phase, the scheme would be open for 10,000 beneficiaries in 16 cities, including Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad, Thane, Nashik and Nagpur. "We issued a revised GR (govt resolution) last Friday after altering the age group of the beneficiaries (to 20-40 years).
The scheme will be rolled out by month-end in key cities. We expect 10,000 beneficiaries in the first phase. The expected cost of these autorickshaws is Rs 4 lakh per unit, of which state govt will bear 20%, while 10% will be borne by the beneficiaries and 70% of the cost will come from bank loans.
Govt will appoint an agency to help procure loans for the beneficiaries from the specified banks," the minister said. Women and child development department officials said govt would allocate around Rs 80 crore as a subsidy for the scheme. "The subsidy will be around Rs 80,000 per autorickshaw in the first phase," an official said, adding that the department had proposed e-rickshaws under the scheme as they were environment-friendly and need less maintenance.
The appointed agency would train the women beneficiaries and also ensure that they were issued the licence after due process through the RTO. State women and child development commissioner Dr Prashant Narnaware told TOI that they would .