Indian Govt. Promotes Eco-Friendly Transportation

21 July 2022: India has a total of 13,34,385 electric vehicles and 27,81,69,631 non-electric vehicles in use. The detailed list of electric vehicles and total vehicles on the roads of India are available on the e-vahan portal (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways). The Government of India has taken various steps to promote the use of electric vehicles in India.

This includes the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) scheme in 2015 with an aim to reduce dependency on fossil fuel and to address issues of vehicular emissions. The government recently approved a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for manufacturing of Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) in the country in order to bring down prices of battery in the country.

Electric vehicles are covered under Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for automobile and auto components, which was approved on 15th September 2021 with a budgetary outlay of Rs.25,938 crore for a period of five years. GST on electric vehicles has been reduced from 12% to 5%; GST on chargers/ charging stations for electric vehicles has been reduced from 18% to 5%.

The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) announced that battery-operated vehicles will be given green license plates and be exempted from permit requirements. It has also issued a notification advising states to waive road tax on EVs, which in turn will help reduce the initial cost of EVs.

An apex organisation under the Central Government, is entrusted with the task of formulating and administering, in consultation with other Central Ministries/Departments, State Governments/UT Administrations, organisations and individuals, policies for Road Transport, National Highways and Transport Research with a view to increasing the mobility and efficiency of the road transport system in the country. The Ministry has two wings: Roads wing and Transport wing.