The Himachal Pradesh transport department on Friday said it has become the first in the country to switch its entire fleet of petrol and diesel official vehicles to electric.

Congratulating the department after flagging off electrical vehicles here, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said the state has taken the lead in switching over to electrical vehicles and notifying its policy.

As many as 300 e-buses will be added to the fleet of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) for which an outlay of Rs 400 crore has been sanctioned, he said.

A target has been set to add 60 per cent e-buses to the fleet of HRTC in the next two years, Sukhu added.

"We are working in the direction of making Himachal India's first 'green energy state' by 2025," the chief minister said in a statement issued here.

He said the motive behind switching to e-vehicles was to curtail the unnecessary expenditure on petroleum products, besides preserving the environment.

"All government departments will be equipped with electrical vehicles within a year," Sukhu said, added that the Electric Vehicle Policy, 2022 has also been notified.

"We will completely transform the existing diesel buses into e-buses in a phased manner," the chief minister added.

The local bus depot of Shimla will soon have a full fleet of e-buses, and an electric bus depot will also be opened in Nadaun, he added.

Electrical vehicle charging stations will be set up in a phased manner for which around 110 places have been identified. Besides, 700 government buildings have been selected to set up charging stations, the chief minister said.

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, who also heads the transport department, said it was in record time that the department has pushed itself into green mobility.