Vijay Rupani unveils policy for e-vehicles with subsidies; industry welcomes move
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday announced state government’s Gujarat Electric Vehicle Policy – 2021, to promote use of electric vehicles in the state. Targeting to have at least two lakh e-vehicles on Gujarat roads in the next four years, the policy offers subsidy on purchase of two-wheelers, three-wheelers and four-wheelers.
Addressing media persons while announcing the policy, Rupani said that it has been announced with multiple aims like to decrease consumption of petrol/diesel, to save foreign exchange and make Gujarat less polluted.
Under the policy, subsidy of Rs 20,000 will be offered for two-wheelers, Rs 50,000 for three-wheelers and Rs 1.50 lakh for four-wheelers. The subsidy will be paid to the vehicle owner in his/her bank account through direct-benefit-transfer.
An official release stated that the subsidy benefit will be available on two-wheelers worth up to Rs 1.50 lakh, three-wheelers worth up to Rs 5 lakh and four-wheelers worth up to Rs 15 lakh.
“The policy has been introduced with assumption that in the next four years, two lakh vehicles will be on Gujarat roads under the same. It is estimated that this will help save fuel worth Rs 5 crore and reduce carbon emission of 6 lakh tonne per year,” the CM said.
The subsidy will be available on purchase of any vehicle, private or commercial. And in four years, it is estimated to cause a financial burden of Rs 870 crore on the state ex-chequer, said the government release.
It added that Union government is also offering various benefits on purchase of electric vehicles and the subsidy announced by the state government will be in addition to that.
Under the policy, the CM said, the government would also develop charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. He added that 278 charging stations have been sanctioned in the state under the Union government’s policy to promote use of electric vehicles.
The state government will provide capital subsidy of upto Rs 10 lakh to set up 250 more charging stations in the state. Rupani said that these charging stations could be set up by anybody at fuel stations or hotels on highways so that owners of e-vehicles can travel long distance.
The official said that the policy also aims to make Gujarat a hub of manufacturing electric vehicles and ancillary products and to promote youths in setting up start ups in the field of electric mobility, thereby saving environment from air and noise pollution.
Industry upbeat
Reacting to the state government’s policy announcement, Shailesh Chandra, president, Passenger Vehicles Business, Tata Motors, said, “We welcome the move by the Gujarat Government, offering incentive support for all categories of electric vehicles. This clearly signals a strong resolve of the government towards cleaner environment and a sustainable future for the country. Also the support extended towards charging infrastructure will accelerate the ecosystem development and bring a greater comfort for EV buyers…”
Mahindra Electric Mobility CEO Mahesh Babu termed the policy as both progressive and comprehensive in nature. “The outlay of Rs 870 crore over the next four years will help EVs flourish in Gujarat… Mahindra is eager to deploy products like the Treo three-wheeler range, which will help customers to earn more… and help Gujarat become one of the leading states in EV adoption states in the country,” he said.
Hero Electric MD Naveen Munjal termed it an “excellent move” and said, “With this policy, the prices of Hero EVs will further come down, making them the most affordable in Gujarat… the allocation of funds and capital to set up additional charging stations will help build the much-needed charging infrastructure and address range anxiety of the consumer.”
Yatin Gupte, chairman and managing director of Vadodara-based electric two-wheeler maker WardWizard Innovations and Mobility, said the announcement is going to become a “landmark in the development of the EV sector across the country”.
(With PTI inputs)
