New Delhi: Maharashtra’s revised policy for electric vehicles will not only help push demand for zero-emission vehicles but will also create an enabling ecosystem for sustainable mobility, according to industry experts and executives at auto companies.
“The policy that aims to convert 10% of their overall EVs by 2025 and install charging stations across the state, will only make EVs an attractive option for mobility in the state. Hero Electric is committed towards such initiatives and we are elated to further expand our reach with government support. We are extremely bullish about achieving our targets of 1 million scooters on road over the next few years," said Naveen Munjal, managing director Hero Electric, country’s largest electric two-wheeler manufacturer.
In its revised policy, Maharashtra aims to convert all government vehicle fleets to electric from 2022 and plans to increase the share of electric vehicles in public transport and last-mile delivery services to 25% by 2025. The government will also provide incentives to set up 2,500 charging stations across the state and will offer rebates to housing societies to install charging devices. New real estate projects will be mandated to keep space for installation of charging devices. EVs will also be exempt from road tax and registration charges.
“Given the state's sizeable contribution to overall vehicle sales in India, the policy's allocation towards demand incentive (including early bird discount) is a major positive. Combination of various benefits offered under the policy will help in reducing the price-gap between EVs and ICE significantly, especially for e2Ws and e3Ws. The policy also favours considerable adoption of e-buses in key cities across the state," Shamsher Dewan, group head and vice-president, corporate sector ratings, ICRA.
To push sales of electric two- and three-wheelers the union government has decided to increase incentives for electric vehicles under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicle scheme. As part of the revised guidelines, incentives on two-wheelers have been increased to ₹15000 kilowatt to ₹10000 kilowatt but the cap for such incentives has been limited to 40% of the cost. Energy Efficiency Services Ltd has been mandated with the task of procuring two- and three-wheelers.
“This is over and above the FAME II incentives for EV manufacturers recently announced by the Central Government which amounts to Rs. 48,000 per bike in case of Revolt. Combining these incentives it would mean incentives of atleast ₹64,000 per bike sold by Revolt in Maharashtra. In addition, EV bikes will be exempted from road tax and registration charges which will further boost customer savings," said a spokesperson of Revolt Motors.
