Telangana State launches Electric Vehicle Policy

By Team PluginIndia
​Electric Vehicle News

The Electric Vehicle and Energy Storage (EV&ESS) policy has been rolled out by the Telangana state government. Rs 3200 CR worth of MOU's have been signed getting investment into the state in the Electric Vehicle Space.  The Telangana government is targeting an ambitious investment attraction of US $4 billion which would lead to creation of 1.2 lakh jobs by 2030.

The following companies pledged investment in Telangana State in the EV & ESS field

• Vikram Kailas, Vice Chairman and MD, Mytrah Energy, signed an MoU committing an investment of Rs 2,000 crore
• Venkateswara Pradeep, Director of Olectra signed an MoU committing an investment of Rs 300 crore
• ETO Motors signed another MoU committing an investment of Rs 150 crore
• Gayam Auto Works announced its plans to invest Rs 250 crore in the State
• Rohit Vadera, co-founder and CEO of PUR Energy announced the company’s plans to invest Rs 500 crore

Telangana IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao said Telangana State already boasts of having the largest electronics cluster with over 1,000 acres available in e-city in Raviryal and another park at Maheshwaram for electronics manufacturers.
He also said, "The State would like to promote itself as an automobile cluster and will offer another 1,000 acres for companies that are looking to set up manufacturing base, to create a comprehensive ecosystem for EV's in the State. We invite the industry to come and make Telangana their manufacturing base as we believe local production is the key to achieve price/performance parity and enable faster adoption of electric vehicles "

He also said that automobile manufacturers/OEMs should make Hyderabad as a test bed for implementation of electric vehicle pilot programs. The Telangana government wants to become a manufacturing hub for electric vehicles.

Mr Rama Rao also said - "To boost public transport, Telangana is establishing 178 charging stations for e-buses. The State has also received several proposals with intent to create more charging infrastructure. The government will further enhance the incentives offered in the policy if the need arises"

Policy Highlights

• Two EV clusters to be developed. One EV cluster each is to be developed at Chandanvelly in Ranga Reddy district and in Divitipally, Mahbubnagar.
• Road tax and Registration fee will be exempted for individuals purchasing electric vehicles.
• The first batch of two lakh electric two-wheelers, 20,000 three-seater autorickshaws, 5,000 commercial passenger vehicles such as cabs, 5000 private cars and 500 buses will have incentives.
• Incentives are also available for 10,000 light goods carriers, including goods carrying three-wheelers, and electric tractors
• Cap on the number of vehicles that will be eligible for incentives will be extended if a need arises
• Vehicles have to be purchased and registered within Telangana for the incentives to be applicable.
• The Telangana state government will setup initial batch of fast charging stations in Hyderabad and other towns with help of private players.
• Ride hailing services will be encouraged to operate electric 2, 3 and 4 wheelers.
• State government entities, encouraging State Transport Units to purchase electric buses.
• Charging stations within 50 km in the state on major highways towards Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai.

What is the Industry saying?

• Evolet India CEO Prerana Chaturvedi said,
  "One of the major advantages of Telangana is its prime geographic location, which presents a logistics and economic sense to EV makers. The State government is pushing the entire ecosystem around electric vehicles, by providing land, skilled manpower and subsidies. Telangana is also opening the door to receive supply as the first customer, being the frontrunner in EV adoption. This will be the game changer."
• Tarun Mehta, CEO, Ather Energy said,
  "We find Hyderabad as a very strong market for electric vehicles, with a lot of customer interest. The city has a lot of young customers and people here understand and appreciate new technology. Not all cities in India are like this. Hyderabad has a lot of tech crowd and people have a broad world view on environmental impact, technology, new brands and startups. I am surprised, we did not launch our vehicles in Hyderabad earlier"​ ​

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PluginIndia's Take
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​We love it. We see many states releasing their own EV policy documents. States like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi and others have released EV policies. These policies are fantastic for encouraging the EV Industry and also create self employment opportunities for small businesses. But we feel it will take a year or two to actually start seeing changes on the ground. 

EV policies are fantastic and a great start. But in order to see real changes, we also need regulation from states and municipalities.
How about states enforcing Internal Combustion Engine Vehicle OEM's to offer atleast one or two Electric Vehicle options in thier portfolio. If companies dont comply then collect a carbon tax from them. In other words incentivize OEMs to offer EV's too. Currently there are many ICE vehicle manufacturers who are not offering even a single EV option. 

All in all a fantastic policy by the Telangana State government. 

Other Related Links 
Do watch our Analysis of the Delhi EV Policy

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