Electric vehicles: India pulls out all stops for a green future

India promotes electic vehicles to meet Paris Agreement targets
Car industry is facing a slowdown with manufacturers reporting a 14% fall in annual sales.

The Modi government has taken several steps to promote electric vehicles as it looks to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 35% in the next 10 years. Under FAME-India scheme, the government spent Rs 359 crore to support 2.8 lakh hybrid and electric vehicles, resulting in a cut of 124 million kg carbon dioxide, environment minister Prakash Javadekar informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply on Tuesday.

The Modi government has also initiated several other steps to promote the use of electric vehicles. It cut GST rate on electric vehicles from 12% to 5% while conventional vehicles are taxed at 28% with 22% cess. The power ministry has classified the sale of electricity for charging EVs as service to attract investments into charging infrastructure.

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It has also exempted battery operated vehicles and vehicles running on ethanol/ methanol from the requirements of permit. On June 18 this year, the government exempted battery operated/electric vehicles from paying registration fees.

In her maiden Union budget, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced additional income tax deduction of Rs 1.5 lakh on the interest paid on loans taken to purchase electric vehicles. The ministry of road transport has allowed youngsters in the age group of 16-18 years to obtain licence to ride E-scooters.

India has more than 30 crore vehicles with internal combustion engines, according to the data compiled by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufactures. Under the FAME India scheme, the government plans to support about 10 lakh e-two wheelers, 5 lakh e-three wheelers, 55000 e- passenger cars and 7,000 e-buses through demand incentives. The plan envisages a spending of Rs 10,000 crore in three years to push electric vehicles for public transport.

The government will spend Rs 1,000 crore ON charging infrastructure under the FAME India scheme. It has initiated the process to set up 1000 charging stations. Under the FAME India scheme, about 230 charging stations has been set up across the country out of the 500 sanctioned.

 

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Sajna Nair is a former banker. Her areas of interest are environment, art and culture.