Delhi and Bihar Governments’ EV policies

Given India’s desires to aggressively adopt Electric Vehicles in a bid to curb pollution, various states and Union Territories have come up with their own EV policies. In this article, we will analyze the stark differences between the EV policies of Delhi and Bihar.

Also read: Impact of Covid-19 on Electric Vehicle Industry

Let’s first look at Delhi’s EV policies

Delhi has the capacity to drive India’s EV sector. The state is focusing on making Delhi EV friendly by developing the charging ecosystem. Since Delhi’s aim is to curb the rising pollution levels, their policy focuses more on services and adoption as opposed to manufacturing and R&D.

The state government’s policy has put in measures that will aid the rapid adoption of Electric vehicles. The first and foremost step is to discourage the sales of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.

As such, a pollution cess, an environment compensation charge for existing and new petrol/diesel vehicles and an air quality parking surcharge have been included. The government has also introduced scrappages and deregistration incentives for some ICE vehicle categories. This will be applicable if a person purchases an EV in the same financial year.

Also Read: Andhra Pradesh EV Policies

Public transport (bus), taxi fleets, 2-wheelers and 3-wheelers are priorities for the government and likewise, vocational courses are also under conception. Delhi government plans to add 50% e-buses to public transport by 2023. Hence, to develop the infrastructure, the government will encourage long-term investment by dealer and charging facility providers to create enabling conditions for public and private charging infrastructure.

Delhi plans to have a charging facility every 3 kilometres. The Energy Operators (EO) for the same will be chosen by competitive bidding to install and operate the battery charging station.

Along with this, the state is planning to have a common mobility card payment system that will allow Energy operators to accept multiple modes of payments (cash, card, mobile wallets or UPI). For effective implementation of the policy, a dedicated EV cell will be created in the transport department for day-to-day activities regarding the policy.

Delhi and Bihar Governments’ EV policies

Now let’s look at Bihar’s EV policies

Owing to the infrastructure constraints, Bihar has put its focus on creating the public transport ecosystem that supports the use of e-rickshaws. Bihar government is working on setting up fast-charging stations at intervals of 50 kilometres on state and national highways. Also, setting up charging stations at commercial and residential locations has been prioritized.

Given the heavy usage of paddle rickshaws in the state, Bihar has plans to replace all of them by e-rickshaws by the year 2022. The state has also announced a subsidy of INR 12,000 to the end-user, and an additional special incentive of INR 10,000 will be provided for Lithium-ion battery e-rickshaw.

Also read: What is the cost of running Electric Vehicle in India?

While doing so, the state government also wants to fulfil the sustainable development goals in the transport sector (e.g. road safety, energy efficiency, urban access, etc.).

As mentioned earlier, there is bound to be a high demand for e-rickshaws in Bihar. The government aims at using this demand to promote the manufacturing of e-rickshaws. The government will also provide reimbursement of stamp duty, SGST, registration duty and other tax benefits. Source

Conclusion

To conclude, both Delhi and Bihar governments have set aggressive policies to promote the adoption of EVs. However, the Delhi government has stressed on service like charging infrastructure and adoption of e-buses whereas the Bihar government is focused on manufacturing and adoption of e-rickshaws.