Kerala budget draws roadmap for electric vehicles

Government will try to increase the number of electric vehicles on roads to 10 lakh by 2022, in accordance with the state electric vehicle policy, finance minister TM Isaac Thomas said on Wednesday.

Newly-registered private electric vehicles will be offered tax rebates. Secondly, Rs 12 crore has been allotted for starting ‘an e-mobility promotion fund’, which will be used for giving tax subsidy to 10,000 electric autos.

A tax rebate of 25% will be offered for the private EVs for five years while e-rickshaws will be granted a rebate of 50%. Gradually, only electric autos will be permitted newly in major towns.

In addition, centres for replacing charged electric batteries will be set up in cities while charging stations will be established with the assistance of private investors based on the specifications of vehicles.

The KSRTC too will switch over to electric buses, Isaac said in his speech. “The electric buses tried on the Pampa-Nilakkal route has proved that the introduction of such vehicles will bring only profit to the government undertaking. In the first phase, all services in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation will be changed to electric buses. With this, Thiruvananthapuram will be the first city in India with only electric buses on the roads. The Water

Transport Corporation

has started using solar boats,” he said.

The government also has plans to set up factories for manufacturing of electric vehicles – the Kerala Automobiles has started manufacturing electric autos on an experimental basis. Discussions have also begun with Swiss company to manufacture electric buses as a joint venture. When the KSRTC turns to electric buses on a large scale, the supplier company may be asked to start a manufacturing centre in the state, the finance minister said in his speech.

The automotive industry in the state, meanwhile, reacted with caution to the proposal in budget to impose flood

cess

on them. Kerala Automobile Dealers Association (KADA) secretary Manoj Kurup said the move will have a significant impact on the industry.

“We had expected the sales to pick up after the floods, but that hasn’t happened yet. One percent cess on high-end cars could mean a price increase of up to Rs 85,000 prompting customers to go to other states to buy cars,” he said.

With the tax burden on new vehicles going up, the second-hand car market in the state will grow considerably, Kurup said. “Currently, only 25-30% of the cars sold in the state are new. With the cess imposed, the used car market will grow by a further 5-10%,” he said.


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