Rajasthan government to roll out EV policy soon

Jaipur: Close on the heels of Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat and Telangana governments, the Rajasthan government is also ready to launch the much-awaited Electric Vehicles (EV) Policy.

“The EV policy draft is ready and will be sent to the finance department very soon for approval,” Mahendra Soni, commissioner, Transport Department, Rajasthan government, told IANS.

The state government recently announced a few incentives, including the subsidising of the upfront cost of electric vehicles for early adopters and offering them the reimbursement of the state goods and service tax (SGST) depending upon the battery capacity of the vehicle sold.

These incentives are meant to endorse the sale of electric vehicles (two-wheelers and three-wheelers) in Rajasthan and will be part of policy. Basically, these incentives have been announced as a part of the Budget announcements made in the House during the Budget Session, said Soni.

It needs to be mentioned here that the incentives were termed as the announcement of EV Policy earlier, however, the department clarified to IANS that the EV Policy is yet to be announced soon.

As per the order issued by the Rajasthan government’s transport department, an amount of Rs 10,000 will be reimbursed on purchase of a three-wheeler with a battery capacity of 3KWH, Rs 15,000 for 4KWH battery capacity and Rs 20,000 for battery capacity of over 5KW.

For two-wheelers, this amount is Rs 10,000 for battery capacity of more than 5KWH, Rs 9,000 for battery capacity up to 5KWH, Rs 7,000 till 4KWH and Rs 5,000 till 2KWH.

This grant amount shall be payable on all electric two- and three-wheelers, as per their battery capacity and is payable on vehicles purchased from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022 and registered till March 2022.

The district transport department officers have been asked to deposit the SGST benefits in the account of purchasers of vehicles within seven days of the purchase.

Mahendra Soni, commissioner, transport department, told IANS, “The new initiative will help boost the sales of EVs thereby decreasing pollution. Also, the permit fee has been waived off on the purchase of EVs,” he said.