Green push: Surat civic body forms committees for implementation of Green Vehicle Policy 2025

According to sources, SMC launched the Green Vehicle Policy on September 17, 2025 — Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday — to curb air pollution in the city. On Monday, under the direction of Surat Municipal Commissioner Shalini Agarwal, a meeting was held at SMC headquarters to discuss its effective implementation.

The main (central) committee, called the Infrastructure Committee, will oversee the use of state government grants. The Core Committee and Technical Committee will focus on research-related work. Members of these committees will soon be appointed, including representatives from SMC, the RTO, GPCB, Traffic Police, SUDA (Surat Urban Development Authority), Torrent Power, and DGVCL (Dakshin Gujarat Vij Company Limited). Public participation will also be encouraged, with 12 members from the community — including youth and researchers — to be part of the panels.

Sources in SMC said the Infrastructure Committee will be responsible for policy approvals, phased implementation, fund allocation, monitoring of pilot projects, and review of policy outcomes, along with collecting and implementing public suggestions.

Surat Municipal Commissioner Shalini Agarwal said, “The initiative taken by SMC will reduce pollution, and Surat will become a role model for other civic bodies across the country. A green vehicle cell has also been formed, which will coordinate with the three committees that will look after proper implementation, technical issues, grant management, and feedback from the public.”

SMC’s Additional City Engineer, Ashish Naik, said, “Presently, a multinational company at Hazira is producing hydrogen gas from water. We are in discussion with the company’s representatives about the supply of hydrogen gas. Once we secure the supply, we can purchase buses powered by hydrogen and use them for public transport, with plans to expand later. Many multinational companies have begun manufacturing equipment for hydrogen vehicles. In the upcoming year, hydrogen-powered vehicles are expected to be operational in various cities across the country. Additionally, hydrogen gas is likely to be cheaper than other fuels. Some local start-ups in Surat have developed machines that produce hydrogen from water at a relatively low cost. We are also in talks with these start-up entrepreneurs.”