Bihar Electric Vehicle Policy approved, to offer incentives for EV buyers

Bihar has become the latest Indian state to approve its first Electric Vehicle Policy. The state's cabinet, led by chief minister Nitish Kumar, announced that the Bihar Electric Policy 2023 has been approved to promote shift to electric vehicles in the state in an attempt to reduce pollution as well as increase adoption of clean-fuel vehicles. With the launch of the Bihar Electric Vehicle Policy, the state government aims to see EVs make up at least 15 per cent of overall vehicle sales within the next five years.

The Bihar Electric Vehicle Policy will offer various incentives to make it attractive for buyers in the state. The EV policy proposes subsidies on Motor Vehicle Tax of up to 75 per cent for electric vehicles. It will also offer incentives of up to ₹1.25 lakh each for the first one thousand electric cars bought in the state. Similar benefits will be rolled out for the first 10,000 electric two-wheelers as well. Among the incentives are ₹10,000 discount on purchase of electric two-wheelers as well as up to 75 per cent waiver of motor vehicles tax.

The proposal is similar to some of the other states with dedicated Electric Vehicle Policy which includes Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra among others. According to the state government, the Bihar Electric Vehicle Policy aims to push for sustainable mobility. S Siddharth, the additional chief secretary (cabinet secretariat), said, “The main objective of the scheme is to encourage faster adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles by the people by offering incentives on purchase of electric vehicles and also by establishing a necessary charging infrastructure. The scheme will help in addressing the issue of environmental pollution and fuel security."

The Bihar EV policy also aims to attract investments in the state to set up its own electric vehicle ecosystem with support industries. It has also proposed renewable energy for the electric vehicle charging stations with approved tariff rates for high tension EV charging stations set at ₹8/KvA for the ongoing financial year. The Bihar EV policy highlights also includes proposal to incentivise those scrapping old electric vehicles and EV components too.

Besides approving the new state EV policy, the government has also approved purchase of 400 electric buses under the PM-e Bus Sewa scheme. These buses will be operated in six districts of the state including Patna, Muzaffarpur, Gaya, Bhagalpur, Darbhanga and Purnea.