The state of Gujarat has come up with a new electric vehicle policy. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani announced the start of this new EV policy. The minister said that electric vehicle buyers will get subsidies of Rs 10,000/kWh. A subsidy support of Rs 870 crore for four years will be provided wherein up to Rs 20,000 off on electric two-wheelers will be given.

Moreover, electric three-wheelers will get a subsidy of up to Rs 50,000 whereas four-wheeler buyers stand to gain by the Rs 1.5 lakh discount. These subsidies will be given to the buyers through Direct Benefit Transfer scheme that the government introduced in 2013. The best part is that the registration fees too are exempted for all kinds of electric vehicles in Gujarat. Under the FAME II policy, more than 278 charging stations too have been approved for the state.

The state government will help with the installation of 250 additional charging stations and at the same time, provide 25 percent capital subsidy. The latter has a cap of Rs 10 lakh for charging stations. The aforementioned subsidies for the vehicles though comes with a clause. For a two-wheeler, the price has to be up to Rs 1.5 lakh while for a three-wheeler, it is five lakh. As for four-wheeler buyers, the cap has been set at Rs 15 lakh. For the latter, one then cannot go for premium models like the MG ZS EV, or even the Jaguar i-Pace. This subsidy looks good for the Mahindra range of electric three-and four-wheelers at present. There is also the Tata Nexon and Tigor EV that can benefit from this.

Sohinder Gill, DG, Society of Manufacturers of electric vehicles (SMEV) said, “We thank the government of Gujarat for announcing a promising and bold EV policy. The policy certainly has the potential to make Gujarat an EV hub and would mobilize a rapid adoption of electric vehicles in the state. We are excited to be part of this journey and would put our all efforts towards achieving the state government’s target under the policy. The policy also gives thrust on the charging infrastructure that would address the issue of range anxiety, especially amongst the people who want to buy an electric four-wheeler.”

Naveen Munjal, MD, Hero Electric said, “The revised EV policy by the state of Gujarat post the recent amendments of the central FAME policy is an excellent move which will further bridge the gap and make the switch to electric vehicles an attractive option. With this policy, the prices of Hero’s EVs will further come down making them the most affordable in the state of Gujarat when compared to pricing across the country. Further, the allocation of funds and capital to setup additional charging stations will help build the much-needed charging infrastructure and address range anxiety of the consumer.

As we at Hero Electric continue to expand our reach, set up charging points and reskill mechanics to create an ecosystem for EVs, additional subsidies from state governments through policies as this will help in the growth of EVs and transform the sector into a cleaner and greener mode of transportation.”