Odisha approves electric vehicle policy, aims to have 20% EVs by 2025

Odisha government has approved its electric vehicle policy on Friday, becoming the tenth state in the country to do so. The Odisha EV policy will aim to promote use of electric vehicles in the state besides turning into one of the EV manufacturing hubs in India.

On the eve of approving the EV policy, the state's chief secretary highlighted the importance to reduce use of fossil fuels to keep pollution down and the environment clean. He also said that through the policy the state aims to achieve a target of 20 percent registration of battery-operated electric vehicles out of the total vehicle registration by the year 2025.

The objectives of the policy are to not only push for EV adoption but also to promote the manufacturing of electric vehicles and their components including batteries in the state, conveyed the minister. This will encourage innovation and facilitate research and development in the areas related to EVs and batteries.

The policy guidelines also include extended financial incentives such as incentives available for manufacturing industries, stimulus on purchase and scrapping, interest subvention in loans, waiver of road tax and registration fees during the policy period. Mohapatra added that these steps are necessary as carbon emission is one of the main reasons behind climate change. “It is high time to reduce such emissions by reducing the use of such traditional fuel and accelerate the pace of adoption of electric vehicles," he said.

According to a Niti Aayog report, Odisha has a total fleet of 4,831 electric vehicles on road. Due to the low density of EVs, the state has only 18 charging stations at present. Neighbouring states like Bihar and Chhattisgarh have a higher electric vehicle density of 26,469 and 5,969 respectively.