GUWAHATI, Oct 14 - The State government is planning to promote and popularise electric vehicles (EVs) in a big way in consonance with the Centre�s ambitious National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020 that aims to have 50-60 lakh e-vehicles on road by 2020.
This will effectively result in decreasing carbon dioxide emission by 24 million tons. The NEMMP provides subsidy to customers buying EVs and also for developing charging infrastructure for EVs.
The Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) � the country�s only registered society representing the EV industry � had a meeting with the Assam government in this regard recently. It made a number of recommendations for facilitating a healthy presence of EVs in the State.
The SMEV is working closely with the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, Ministry of Heavy Industry and the State nodal agencies on pilot projects for the implementation of electric mobility across States and Union Territories.
�The Centre has accorded a lot of thrust in implementing the NEMMP with the States as active stakeholders for reducing emission of greenhouse gases from fossil fuel-driven vehicles by replacing them with EVs in a phased manner. We had a meeting with Assam Transport Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary and he has shown keen interest in bringing EVs to Assam�s roads,� Sohinder Gill, director, corporate affairs, SMEV, told The Assam Tribune.
Gill said that both the industry and the government had acknowledged and rectified the drawbacks of the policy following the slump in the EV market in 2014 and that the market was upbeat again.
�There were issues, like withdrawal of subsidy, delay in release in subsidy, shortfalls in EV battery technology, poor charging infrastructure and associated high costs, etc., but the problem areas have been addressed and the results are showing. The main challenge now is policy implementation and this can be done only with the State governments� assistance,� he added.
The recommendations made by the SMEV to the Assam government included reduction in VAT as it was among the few States where VAT was highest on EVs; facilitating a network of simple charging station to be spread across the State covering government offices, parking lots, station parking, market places, etc.; State-level subsidies on EVs as in case of Delhi where the government provides subsidies to citizens; interest-free easy finance options from banks/government to benefit the end customers to own EVs; awareness campaigns to promote electric mobility; and deregistering polluting petrol two-wheelers used in food and e-commerce business deliveries and replacing them with electric two-wheelers in a phased manner.
�As Guwahati is under the Smart City Mission, the government can put more efforts to develop a sustainable EVs adaptation policy for such cities. The Gujarat government gives additional subsidy for students on purchase of EVs and the Assam government can act similarly. The Central government has already started a phase-wise adoption of EVs in their official fleet,� he said.
As concentrated toxic and poisonous gases that an average commuter breathes on the road when passing through slow-moving traffic every day is a major health hazard today, more and more countries are opting for EVs. Recently, the Maharashtra government waived off VAT, road tax and registration charges for EVs.
Prices of EVs can be lowered using innovative solutions, such as a business model of leasing batteries, which makes initial price of vehicles lower and insuring consumers from issues related to performance, life and recycle of battery.
According to experts, as market penetration of EVs increases, their cost will reduce simultaneously due to the synergy between economies of scale and advances in technology. The penetration of solar energy in the power sector has also gone through a similar experience.
