Maharashtra launches new EV Policy 2021
- The new EV policy aims to make Maharashtra the top producer of Battery Electric Vehicles in India in terms of annual production capacity
- It also aims for electric vehicles to make up 10 percent of all new vehicle registrations (around three lakh vehicles a year) in the state by 2025.
- State government has pledged Rs 930 crore towards this policy valid till March 31, 2025, and announced EVs will be exempt from road tax and registration charges.
Implementation aspects:
- State government is instituting a Mechanism Steering Committee under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary & other concerned principal secretaries.
- 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 will set up EV charging infrastructure at around 2,500 charging stations, in:
- Seven major urban clusters (Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Nashik, Amravati & Solapur) and
- Four major highways (Mumbai -Pune, Mumbai – Nashik, Mumbai – Nagpur and Pune – Nashik).
- Further, government will encourage urban local bodies to provide property tax rebates to residential owners for installing private charging infrastructure within their premises.
Incentives
- Incentives will be given under new EV policy to buyers of electric vehicles as follows:
- Two-wheelers: Rs. 10,000
- Three-wheeler: Rs. 30,000
- Four-wheeler: Rs. 1,50,000 and
- Rs. 20 lakh incentive 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.
FAME Scheme:
- 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 electric buses, four-wheelers, three-wheelers and two-wheelers.
- Recently, Union government announced the extension of the second phase of FAME scheme by two years, until March 31, 2024.