Auto drivers will be given better alternative: Dikshit

New Delhi, March 20: After creating a flutter by announcing that auto-rickshaws would be replaced by battery-operated vehicles, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Saturday said their drivers will be given an alternative to shift to cleaner mode of transport before the move is implemented.

She, however, said that no such move is in the offing for now.

"The autos can only be phased out, when we give them (drivers) a better alternative to shift, like the way we gave it to bus drivers to use CNG. Before that, it is not possible (to phase out auto rickshaws) or Delhi would come to a standstill," she said.

Dikshit, who was speaking at the Asia Corporate Conference, WEdnesday announced in the state assembly that her government wanted to phase out the auto-rickshaws, also known as the poor man's taxi.

"There has been a lot of talk about adopting three-wheeler rickshaw-cycle which could run on battery. But the battery system is not settled down, it hasn't become as credible as it should be," she said.