Rajasthan electric vehicle policy includes ₹40 crore for EV purchase grants

The Rajasthan government on Thursday launched its electric vehicle policy to encourage citizens to purchase more battery-powered vehicles. The state authority has sanctioned a total of ₹40 crore for purchase of electric vehicles. As per a notification issued by the state, the policy will be there for a period of five years, starting September 1. The Rajasthan EV Policy was first announced by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in the budget 2019-20, and a draft had been approved on 24 May this year.

Under the EV Policy, the state government has approved the proposed one-time contribution on the purchase of electric vehicles and an additional budget provision of ₹40 crore for reimbursement of State Goods and Services Tax (SGST). The government will reimburse ₹5,000 to ₹10,000 SGST amount for two-wheelers and ₹10,000 to 20,000 for the purchase of three-wheelers, depending on their battery capacity.

The ₹40-crore grant to the transport department will be used to clear the pending cases of grant on the purchase of electric vehicles. "We have received funds from the state government and all pending dues related to electric vehicle purchase of this financial year will be cleared soon," Transport Commissioner K L Swami told PTI. Out of this amount, a grant amount of ₹5 crore will be disbursed to 3,000 vehicle owners, who purchased vehicles in the current fiscal year.

In the last financial year, the state sanctioned an amount of ₹18 crore as grants to people who bought electric vehicles in 12 Regional Transport Office (RTO) areas of the state.

The state government believes that with an increase in purchase of electric vehicles, pollution caused by diesel and petrol vehicles in the state will come down.