India’s big EV push: Maharashtra launches new EV Policy 2021

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In a big push to electric vehicles in India, the Maharashtra govt launches the new Electric Vehicle Policy -2021.

The policy announced by the State Environment Minister, Aaditya Thackeray aims to accelerate the adoption of Battery Electric Vehicles in the country.

EXPLAINED: What is it?

The new EV policy introduced in Maharashtra is a revision of the 2018 policy. It is introduced with an aim to make Maharashtra the “topmost producer of battery-powered electric vehicles in India.”

It also aims for electric vehicles (EVs) to make up 10 percent of all new vehicle registrations, by 2025. For this ambitious mission, the state government has rolled out a Rs. 930 crore policy, valid up to 31st March, 2025. To make this success, EVs will be exempted from road tax and registration charges.

How it’ll be implemented?

For the smooth implementation of Maharashtra’s new EV Policy, the state government is instituting a Mechanism Steering Committee under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary & other concerned principal secretaries.

The Chief Secretary & other secretaries will evaluate policy effectiveness to amend it, according to the EV ecosystem and environment. A Climate Change Department (CCD) will drive the ‘EV Monitoring Cell.’

EV charging infrastructure:

The state government is also set to firmly develop EV charging infrastructure at around 2,500 charging stations, in 7 major urban clusters (Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Nashik, Amravati & Solapur) and 4 major highways (Mumbai -Pune, Mumbai – Nashik, Mumbai – Nagpur and Pune – Nashik).

Further, the government will encourage urban local bodies to provide property tax rebates to residential owners for installing private charging infrastructure within their premises.

How it’ll be beneficial? (Incentives)

Incentives will be given to buyers of electric vehicles, under the new EV policy. Thus, those purchasing two-wheelers will be given an incentive of Rs. 10,000, for three-wheeler the incentive will be Rs. 30,000, for four-wheeler, an incentive of Rs. 1,50,000 and Rs. 20 lakh incentive will be given for e-buses.

The policy also aims to create a ‘State EV Fund’ which will be used to promote EV adoption including providing incentives for EV infrastructure. The policy can be funded through a green tax levied on re-registration of old vehicles, fuel cess etc.

About FAME Scheme:

The Fame (Faster Adoption & Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles) scheme was announced in 2019 to incentivize the purchase of E-vehicles in the country.

It was announced with an outlay of ₹10,000 crore to incentivize the purchase of 7,090 electric buses, 35,000 four-wheelers, 500,000 three-wheelers and 1 million two-wheelers. Recently, the Union government announced the extension of the second phase of FAME scheme by two years, until March 31, 2024.