The Maharashtra government today unveiled a comprehensive EV Policy 2021, which has been designed to accelerate both adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in the state as well as make Maharashtra a leading manufacturing and investment hub for the EV ecosystem globally. The overarching aim is for EVs to contribute to 10% of new vehicle registrations – or 300,000 EVs – a year by 2025.
- The policy comprises three direct incentives for demand, supply and charging infrastructure.
- Includes non-fiscal incentives for developing skilled manpower to support the transition to EVs across the state.
- Aims to make Maharashtra a leading manufacturing and investment hub for the EV ecosystem globally
Attractive incentives announced for almost all categories of EVs
As per the policy, the Maharashtra government will offer basic as well as early bird incentives on the purchase of electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers and four-wheelers.This includes an incentive of Rs 5,000 per kWh of the vehicle battery capacity. For two-wheelers and three-wheelers, the maximum incentive has been capped at Rs 10,000 and Rs 30,000 respectively. Meanwhile, for four-wheelers the maximum incentive is capped at Rs 1.50 lakh. Buyers will also be elligible for early bird incentives (on purchase of vehicle before 31st December, 2021) and several other benefits, as has been detailed in the table below.
| Maharashtra EV policy incentives | ||||||
| Vehicle type | Battery Capacity (kWh) | Basic Incentives | Early Bird Incentives | Assured buyback & Battery warranty Incentives | Scrappage Incentives | Total Incentives |
| Electric two-wheelers (before December 31, 2021) | 3 | Rs 10,000 | Rs 15,000 | Rs 12,000 | Rs 7,000 | Rs 44,000 |
| Electric two-wheelers (after December 31, 2021) | 3 | Rs 10,000 | NA | Rs 12,000 | Rs 7,000 | Rs 29,000 |
| Electric three-wheelers (before December 31, 2021) | 7 | Rs 30,000 | Rs 35,000 | Rs 12,000 | Rs 15,000 | Rs 92,000 |
| Electric three-wheelers (after December 31, 2021) | 7 | Rs 30,000 | NA | Rs 12,000 | Rs 15,000 | Rs 57,000 |
| Electric four-wheelers (before December 31, 2021) | 30 | Rs 1,50,000 | Rs 1,00,000 | NA | Rs 25,000 | Rs, 2,75,000 |
| Electric four-wheelers (after December 31, 2021) | 30 | Rs 1,00,000 | NA | NA | Rs 25,000 | Rs 1,75,000 |
Accelerating adaptation of EVs
Along with the earlier-mentioned target of 10% of new vehicles sales to be EVs, Maharashtra is targeting six urban cities (Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Amravati and Nashik) to achieve 25% electrification of public transport and last-mile delivery vehicles by 2025. Also from April 2022, all new government vehicles in Maharashtra will be EVs.
The EV policy indicates the state government’s plan to fast-track and ensure time-bound registration of EVs, including EV fleets owned by aggregators, last mile delivery providers, logistics players, etc. The policy will encourage fleet aggregators to operate electric vehicles, as per the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guideline 2020 issued by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
Greater focus on charging infrastructure
The state government also plans to aggressively develop EV charging infrastructure, estimated at around 2,500 charging stations, in 7 major urban agglomerates (Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Nashik, Amravati and Solapur) and 4 major highways (Mumbai -Pune, Mumbai – Nashik, Mumbai – Nagpur and Pune – Nashik).
While slow chargers (15,000 units) will get incentives up to Rs. 10,000 per charger, fast chargers (500 units) will be incentivised up to Rs 500,000 per charger. The government document states that “urban local bodies will be encouraged to provide property tax rebates to residential owners for installing private charging infrastructure within their premises.” ULBs/PWD/ MSRDC will identify locations for charging infrastructure installation.
The proposed incentives are in addition to FAME Il incentives and will be awarded to vehicle manufacturers based on the number of vehicles registered in Maharashtra.
Benefits to EV makers setting up projects in the state
The EV Policy documents says that “all the benefits under ‘D+’ category of mega projects will be provided to these industries irrespective of location of manufacturing unit in the state. This incentive will be applicable from the date of notification of policy and will be disbursed through the Industries, Energy and Labour Department”.
Policy Implementation
The state government is instituting a Mechanism Steering Committee under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary and other concerned department principal secretaries, who will assess the policy effectiveness and revise the policy, considering the EV ecosystem and environment. There will be a Climate Change Department which will drive the ‘EV Monitoring Cell’.
Also See:
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