'Gujarat Electric Vehicle Policy 2021'
The Gujarat government on Tuesday announced 'Gujarat Electric Vehicle Policy 2021' to promote use of electric vehicles in the state. According to Gujarat's CM Vijay Rupani, it aims to bring at least 2 lakh electric vehicles on the state roads including 1.10 lakh electric two-wheel vehicles, 70,000 three-wheelers and 20,000 four-wheelers in the next four years. The subsidy will be provided to private and commercial vehicles and in addition to the Fame II subsidy. A subsidy up to ₹20,000/- on purchase of 2wheeler, ₹50,000/- for 3wheeler and ₹1,50,000/- on purchase of a 4wheeler will be transferred directly to the bank accounts of owners through direct benefit transfer. Registrations of vehicles at RTO in Gujarat will be free. The policy also focuses on setting up charging infrastructure for EVs. While 278 charging stations, mostly on highways, have been approved, the state government is planning to add another 250 in near future. "In all, we are aiming for 500 charging stations, which can be set up at petrol pumps or roadside hotels too. This will help electric car owners to travel longer distances. We will also provide capital subsidy on the investment made by entrepreneurs to set up such charging stations," Vijay Rupani said. It was also announced that Kevadia in Gujarat will soon transform into the country's first electric-vehicle-only city. Necessary infrastructure is being made to ensure that only battery-based buses, four wheelers, and two-wheelers ply in Kevadiya in future. He further added that India is setting an example for the world that development need not stop to protect the environment, and that ecology and economy can go hand in hand. Maharashtra State Policy and Giga Factory proposal Meanwhile, in Maharashtra revised EV policy, the government has planned to setup a lithium-ion gigafactory. The state transport ministry made a presentation to Uddhav Thackeray for Giga Factory for manufacturing of Lithium-ion batteries and emphasized the need to improve the electric-charging station infrastructure. The 2021 EV Policy is keen to on Infrastructure setup. The state plans to turn 10% of their vehicles into EVs by 2025. The government also plans to set up over 2,300 charging stations in government buildings, MSRTC bus stops, besides petrol pumps, and malls in the future. The 2021 EV policy draft targets major cities such as Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik and Aurangabad to achieve 25 per cent electrification of intra-city public transport, as well as last-mile delivery vehicles by 2025 |
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It is indeed amazing to see states coming together to support Electric Mobility. Karnataka, Telangana launched EV policies in 2017. Maharashtra, Andhra, Uttarakhand and Delhi laucnhed in 2018. Many other states too have drafted or approved an EV policy. And in 2021 - Meghalaya, West Bengal and Gujarat have approved their policies.
Let's take a step back and appreciate the fact that and this has only been made possible due to the progressive central government scheme - The FAME 2. Also lot of credit must go to the likes of Nitin Gadkari who always urged manufacturers to take Electrics seriously.
Electric Scooters in The Gujarat will have ludicrously low prices. For example the Ampere Zeal or Hero Electric Optima electric scooter which costs around Rs 58k after FAME 2 subsidy, will now cost less than Rs 40k. This will get people to switch towards electrics. An electric car too will get a state subsidy of Rs. 10,000 per kWh provided the car costs less than Rs 15 Lakhs. So if Mahindra launches the eKUV with a 20 kWh battery pack and sell it at an "inflated" price of Rs 9 Lakhs, customers in Gujarat can get a cool subsidy of Rs 2 Lakh.
And yet despite all of this BIG ICE vehicle manufacturers are still not onboard. Many of them have no EVs' in their portfolio even in 2021. But we are confident with large players like Ola Electric investing huge money in EV's, the BIG ICE Mafia will tow the line!