Assam makes electric move; all public transport, govt vehicles to run on battery
- Assam government aims to offer a range of subsidies and incentives to the EV buyers for demand creation.
- The state government has announced a wide range of benefits for the EV manufacturers as well.
Assam becomes the latest state in India to announce its dedicated EV policy. The state government has approved the policy that aims to introduce at least 200,000 electric vehicles within the next five years. The state government will offer a set of incentives to the EV buyers for pushing the growth in this segment.
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Under the new EV policy, the Assam government is planning to convert its existing public transport and government vehicles to EVs by 2030. The new EV policy envisages 25% of newly-registered vehicles in the state will be EVs by 2026.
As the first step of the policy implementation, the state government is procuring 200 electric buses and 100 CNG operated buses. This fleet of buses will ply in Guwahati.
According to Assam's principal secretary (industries and commerce) KK Dwivedi, among the 200,000 EVs planned to roll out in the state within 5 years, 100,000 will be two-wheelers. Apart from that, 75,000 will be three-wheelers and 25,000 will be four-wheelers.
The Assam EV policy will offer electric vehicle buyers subsidies up to 1.5 lakh. Electric two-wheelers will be eligible for ₹20,000 subsidy, while three-wheelers will get ₹50,000 subsidy. The four-wheelers will get a ₹1.5 lakh subsidy from the state government.
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These subsidies will be offered over and above the FAME-II scheme benefits. Apart from that, the EV buyers will also receive the advantage of registration fees exemption, road tax and parking fee exemptions as well.
Besides promoting electric vehicle adoption, the Assam EV policy will also focus on setting up charging stations across the state. The entrepreneurs who will set up charging stations will receive a 90% discount on their electricity bills for the first five years.
Not only the demand incentive, but the Assam EV policy also aims to lure auto companies to set up manufacturing facilities in the state. The state government has said that EV manufacturing companies will get subsidies on setting up factories in the state. Also, they will receive discounted electricity bills and rebates on income tax as well.