Keeping in line with the government’s initiative on introduction of green mobility and to achieve reduction in carbon footprint, on Tuesday (Nov 15, 2022) the Indian Air Force (IAF) has a fleet of Tata Nexon Electric Vehicles.

This is not the first time that IAF is working towards cutting down its carbon footprint. The focus is to use biofuels for its transport fleet.

A batch of 12 electric vehicles was flagged off in the presence of senior officers and staff of IAF, at a flag-off ceremony held at Air Force Headquarters, Vayu Bhawan, New Delhi by Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari,  Chief of the Air Staff.

Future plans of IAF for EVs

The IAF has plans to enhance the usage of electric vehicles in a progressive manner. It is set to procure e-vehicles rather than downgraded conventional vehicles and it is set to augment the ecosystem required for the e-vehicles and this includes the installation of charging infrastructure at various Air Force bases across the country.

Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, flagging off the first batch of 12 e-vehicles. (Photo: IAF)

The first batch of e-vehicles which were flagged off today will be deployed in the Delhi NCR and they will be monitored for their performance.

IAF & Indian Army join hands

Towards creating a standardized inventory both services have joined hands in the ongoing procurement of Electric Vehicles including buses and cars.

In fact in mid 2018 it test flew a bio-fuel demonstrator Russian make An-32, transport aircraft.  For the first time ever, the aircraft flew out of Chandigarh with blended bio-fuel with the aviation turbine fuel (ATF). The purpose was to have transport aircraft in the IAF to fly with bio-fuels.

In the next six month, these transport aircraft will be modified which will enable them to fly on 10 percent blended biodiesel to complete around 200 flight hours in the next six months.

Financial Express Online has reported earlier that this fuel is a combination of Jatropha oil which has been sourced from Chattisgarh Biodiesel Development Authority (CBDA). This is then processed at CSIR-IIP, Dehradun.

Besides the transport fleet the IAF is also keen on using the same fuel for its war machines like the MiG-29s, Su-30 MKI after the fuel is certified by the concerned agencies.