Gujarat unveils bold new EV policy

Gujarat has become the latest state to announce a new electric vehicle (EV) policy to drive adoption of the eco-friendly vehicles. The announcement will further make owning an EV attractive for residents of the state, as the new benefits will be in addition to the revision in the FAME II policy announced earlier this month.

• The Gujarat government will provide incentive of up to Rs 10,000 per kWh for EVs
• The govt. will offer further subsidies on all FAME II-eligible vehicles
• Commercial public EV charging stations will be eligible for 25 percent capital subsidy

As per the new EV policy, the Gujarat government will provide incentive of up to Rs 10,000 per kWh for electric vehicles. The maximum ex-factory price to avail incentive for electric two-wheelers will be up to Rs 1.5 lakh, up to Rs 5 lakh for electric three-wheelers and Rs 15 lakh for electric four-wheelers (personal and commercial), respectively.

Under the scheme, the government is targeting a total of 2,00,000 EVs which include 1,10,000 e-two-wheelers; 70,000 e-three-wheelers and 20,000 e-four-wheelers.

The government says all FAME II-eligible vehicles will be eligible for availing the benefits with a subsidy cap of 40 percent on the retail price of the vehicle. This means a maximum cap of Rs 1.50 lakh for electric four-wheelers, Rs 50,000 for L5 electric three-wheelers and Rs 20,000 for electric two-wheelers. The incentive will be over and above the FAME II subsidy, which will make the cost of an electric two-wheeler (up to 2kW) cheaper by almost Rs 50,000.

The subsidy will be provided under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode from the State Transport Department after verifying the document for the purchase of the vehicle.

Benefits for public EV charging stations

Furthermore, the government has also announced that commercial public EV charging stations for two-, three- and four-wheelers will be eligible for 25 percent capital subsidy on equipment/machinery (limited up to Rs 10 lakh per station) for the first 250 commercial public EV charging stations. All housing and commercial establishments will be needed to provide ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC) to its members who wish to install charging stations with designated parking spaces. Gujarat government will also forego electricity duty on EV charging stations during the policy period.