The Community grants more than 7.7 million euros to promote “the green revolution” in transport

The Community has granted 7,712,000 euros in aid to promote the transformation of freight and passenger vehicle fleets with the triple objective of increasing energy efficiency, reducing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere and improving air quality in cities .

The Minister of Development and Infrastructure, José Ramón Díez de Revenga, assured that “the Region of Murcia is the first autonomous community to exhaust the Next Generation aid for the removal of the most polluting vehicles and also the line for the acquisition of new electric vehicles, and we have 206 companies waiting to receive aid due to lack of available funds».

Díez de Revenga took stock this Monday of the management of the funds of the ‘European Program for Sustainable, Safe and Connected Mobility’, where he highlighted “the agility of the call launched by the Community that has made it possible to quickly resolve the requests for aids». “The region’s transport companies are not only large and powerful, but they are also aware of the reduction of emissions and the transformation of the sector, as promulgated by the European Green Deal, which directly affects the quality of life of our cities”, highlighted the counselor.

Díez de Revenga reported that the resolution of this European aid by the Autonomous Community has made it possible to remove a total of 272 polluting vehicles from the roads, with an amount of 4.1 million euros, and the acquisition of 32 electric vehicles for an amount of 3.6 million. The amount of aid for the removal of freight vehicles ranges from 2,500 to 20,000 euros, and from 4,000 to 25,000 euros for passenger vehicles, while for the acquisition of alternative energy vehicles it can reach 200,000 euros.

Extension request

The head of Public Works asked the central government to reduce this call for aid with an additional 12.2 million euros to meet the significant demand from freight and passenger transport companies. Specifically, there is a waiting list for companies to withdraw another 413 polluting vehicles worth more than 7 million, and for the purchase of 11 more electric vehicles.

“If we have been the most agile in granting these subsidies, we ask the Ministry to be agile in redoubling these funds, either with money that other communities are not spending or with other lines that are not working,” said Díez de Revenga. The counselor explained that the success of these two lines of aid contrasts with the “null interest of the sector in the rest of the lines” for which he requested that the subsidies for the implementation of electrical recharging infrastructures be reformulated; modification of the form of propulsion or retrofit; and for the acquisition of semi-trailers for railway highways because “we have not received any request”.