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Shoonya Campaign by NITI AAYOG

Description: Read about the Shoonya Campaign of NITI AAYOG, its purpose, benefits and salient components 

The "Shoonya — Zero-Pollution Mobility" campaign promotes the use of EVs for urban deliveries and ride-hailing. Shoonya, meaning "zero" in Sanskrit language, implies the beginning and origination of possibilities. Inspired by this connotation, the Shoonya campaign plans to revolutionise the transport sector with a radical and urgent transition to zero-emission vehicles.

Purpose

With a growing population, rapid urbanisation, and an increase in e-commerce, urban freight demand is expected to increase by 140 percent this decade. Commercial passenger vehicle movement is also expected to increase 5X by 2050. Meeting India's growing transportation demand through conventional internal combustion engine vehicles will be expensive, polluting, and unhealthy. Zero-emission vehicles present an opportunity to meet this demand while reducing costs and improving air quality.

Benefits

· EVs emit zero particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions at the tailpipe.

· Adopting electric fleets can significantly reduce harmful vehicle emissions such as PM and NOx that cause respiratory ailments and other diseases and improve public health.

· EVs produce 20 percent less CO2 than fossil-fuel vehicles.

· Shifting to all-electric fleets leads to reduced fuel and maintenance costs.

Components

The Shoonya campaign has three major components:

1. Corporate Branding Programme

The corporate branding programme recognises efforts made by industry partners to promote vehicle electrification. Under this programme, rides and deliveries carried out in EVs are branded with the Shoonya logo. The EVs used for deliveries and ride-hailing carry a Shoonya sticker and drivers wear a Shoonya badge. 

2. Consumer Awareness Drive

A public-facing awareness drive is designed to highlight the health and environmental benefits of EV adoption. The campaign seeks to build awareness and demand for zero-pollution rides and deliveries among consumers, solidifying Shoonya as a slogan across every household in India. 

3. Resource Toolkit

The resource toolkit provides EV users with online tools to assess the costs and impact of electric vehicle adoption. These toolkits include 1) an impact tracking dashboard that shares the progress and impact of the campaign to date 2) a calculator that shows a cost and emissions comparison between EVs and their petrol, diesel, and CNG counterparts 3) a list of financing resources and policy incentives to support EV procurement.