It was one of those symposiums where more information and less rhetoric was traded among participants. - An ideal Indian City to introduce electric vehicles', organised by CTO-NGO Resource Centre, felt electricity was an effective alternative to fossil fuels, but not the ultimate one.

The advantages of having electric vehicles are aplenty, the main speakers, including Lon Bell, an expert from the US, C C Chan, president of the World Electric Vehicle Association and REVA Electric Car Company Managing Director Chetan Maini, said. Bell-felt that Bangalore had a distinct advantage over developed countries in this respect due to low labour costs and the presence of a good consumer base.

"The entire City is accessible by vehicles within the 60 km to 80 km radius, while average speed is around 60 km per hour," he said, claiming that an electric car would fit into this scheme perfectly.

Chang claimed that electric fuel would help save $30 per 1,000 km in comparison to petrol and diesel. Maini, on the other hand, dwelt on the necessity for Government support through creation of charging centres using solar power and concessional import duties for components.

Since the batteries of these cars can also be charged at home, he urged the KPTCL to supply quick and consistent power at low cost. Presenting statistics on the need for alternative energy forms. A Ravindra, Managing Director of karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation, said there were 12 lakh vehicles in Bangalore, 77 percent of which were two-wheelers.

"We cannot ignore pollution caused by vehicles," he said. Inaugurating the conference B.R. Prabhakar, former state Chief Secretary and president of the organising forum, said it would be extremely difficult to find an alternative for liquid fossil fuels.

"Ultimately, the feasibility of the project will depend on the cost of vehicles," he said. Samuel Paul, chairman of the Public Affairs Centre, felt that as the car is yet to hit the streets, public response is still unknown. "A large number of service stations are not viable unless there are a large number of cars.

But without service stations, the maintenance of the cars will be difficult," he said.