In an environment-friendly move, the State Government has decided to procure hybrid models of vehicles for official use.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has given in-principle approval for procurement of hybrid models of vehicles for official use by Ministers, Chief Secretary and Secretaries of different departments, District Judges, Collectors and SPs.
Following the CM’s approval, Finance Principal Secretary Vishal Dev has issued a notification to this effect.
Notably, the Government of India and many other States have brought out policies which encourage and incentivise purchase of electric vehicles and hybrid cars with an objective of significantly reducing the use of conventional fossil fuel-based vehicles and switching over to vehicles based on cleaner technologies.
Considering it, the Odisha Government is also taking steps to procure hybrid vehicles. The Department of Commerce & Transport has asked the Transport Commissioner to prepare a detailed report on availability of different hybrid vehicles in the market and place it before the Technical Committee of State Transport Authority (STA).
As per the notification, Ministers, Chief Secretary and other officers in the rank of Apex Scale and equivalent and high dignitaries are eligible to procure Toyota Innova, Tata Hexa and Mahindra XUV 500 with a calling price of Rs 25 lakh per vehicle and a mileage of 9 km per litre.   
Similarly, District Judges, officers of the rank of Principal Secretary or Secretary and equivalent rank are eligible to procure Maruti Ciaz and Honda City cars, whose maximum price will be Rs 15 lakh and showing mileage of 12 km per litre.
Collectors and SPs can use Mahindra Scorpio, Hyundai Creta and Mahindra Marazzo vehicles, whose cost would be within Rs 15 lakh and the minimum mileage of such vehicle would be at least 10 km per litre.  
The offices before procuring the vehicle will have to obtain approval of the Finance Department.
However, the State Government has exempted Judges of the High Court from the purview of the notification. 
A hybrid vehicle is one that uses two or more distinct types of power such as submarines that use diesel/petrol when surfaced and batteries when submerged. Other means to store energy include pressurised fluid in hydraulic hybrids.
A hybrid electric vehicle cannot be plugged in to charge the battery. Instead, the battery is charged through regenerative braking and by the internal combustion engine.