As India progresses towards its commitment to reach net-zero emission by 2070, the states have left no stone unturned to roll out investments across the EV sector. In a race to emerge as India’s EV capital, states in India have mapped out strategic schemes and proposals with the intent of transforming the mobility space to provide the citizens with safe, inclusive, economic, and clean transportation options. Over 15 states have announced policies including perks like tax subsidies, cheaper land, and charging and battery infrastructure.
While some states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have had an upper hand due to preplanned public policies and focused investor incentives, other states too have worked out schemes and approaches to stimulate the market demand and built infrastructure.
According to certain reports covering the mobility sector, the top contenders Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra have induced assurances to encourage investment in manufacturing and boost the share of electric vehicles on roads. Which state will be granted the acclaimed status of India’s EV capital?
Delhi
Delhi has carved a niche name for itself as 'EV Capital of India' by crossing the 10 percent mark in the sale of electric vehicles, marking a share even higher than the UK, France, and Singapore. In a bid to reduce pollution, Delhi’s electric vehicle policy was rolled out in 2020 and aims at boosting the sales of EVs to 25 percent by 2024.
For mandatory adoption of electric vehicles in Delhi, the aggregator policy will ensure that 50 percent of all new two-wheelers and 25 percent of all new four-wheelers are electric by March 2023. Additionally, Delhi also introduced a government website for owners of malls, housing societies, theatres, etc to apply for and set up charging facilities.
For a wider adoption of EVs in Delhi, the development of charging infrastructure has received a massive push under the Delhi EV policy. With the growing network of charging infrastructure, the issue of range anxiety is curbed to an extent, in turn pushing the growth of EVs. Delhi aims to have 25% of new vehicle registrations to be electric by 2024.
Karnataka
To make Bengaluru the EV capital of India, Karnataka, at the state level, was one of the first to roll out the Karnataka Electric Vehicles and Energy Storage Policy (KEVESP) in 2017. The government of Karnataka is focusing on 100% EV adoption by 2030 in the private transport segment in Bengaluru and provides a viable environment for research and development, technological advancements, and manufacturing of EVs. While in the public transport sector, the government plans to launch 1500 EV buses over the next three years; in the goods segment, a 100% EV target is set for three-wheelers, four-wheelers, and mini-goods vehicles by 2030.
The policy also promotes e-commerce and delivery companies functioning in Bengaluru to adopt electric two-wheelers/three-wheelers to their fleet by 2030. The state houses manufacturers such as Ather Energy and Bosch and the government aims to establish 112 EV charging stations in the city. The government has also rolled out incentives such as interest-free loans on net SGST for EV manufacturing enterprises.
Tamil Nadu
The state of Tamil Nadu has indeed attracted investments for two-wheelers EVs to battery manufacturing. Renowned for its auto manufacturing prowess, the government in the southern part of Tamil Nadu, called the “Detroit of India”, released an ad announcing that the state was the country’s leading “EV capital” and boasted investment commitments of $2.3 billion by EV manufacturers such as Ola Electric, Ather Energy, and TVS Motor. The ad also served as an invitation to companies to come forward and set up factories on a 300-acre plot of land set aside by the state government for developing an e-mobility park. Besides providing the land, the government also has a goal to establish venture capital and business incubation service hubs to boost electric vehicle start-ups.
The government of Tamil Nadu manifests the idea of electrifying 5% of buses every year by 2030 and converting shared mobility fleets, institutional vehicles, and e-commerce delivery and logistics vehicles to EVs by 2030. Within 10 years the government aims to convert all the auto-rickshaws in six major cities to EVs. Encouraging the adoption of EVs, charging infrastructure manufacturing units will be receiving a 100% exemption on electricity tax till 2025.
While Tamil Nadu remains a mainstay of traditional automobile manufacturing in India for decades, the deal for Ola’s factory was a big win for the state considering the facility is projected to be the world’s largest two-wheeler factory.
Maharashtra
A leading financial hub of India. Maharashtra announced its EV policy in 2021, introducing price drop incentives and subsidies for both consumers and manufacturers to facilitate the adoption of EVs. A revision of the 2018 policy, the new policy EV policy has an outlay of INR 9.3 billion and plans to make the state India’s top producer of batteries for EVs in terms of annual production capacity.
The key objective of the 2021 EV policy has been to achieve a 10 percent share of EVs in the overall new vehicle registrations in the state by 2025. The government aims to attain 25% electrification of public transportation and the last-mile delivery vehicle in five targeted urban agglomerations of Greater Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, and Aurangabad by 2025. Incentives for battery recycling, and charging infrastructure across all segments of EVs, including e-buses have been rolled out.
Conclusion
Being the “EV Capital of India” is not something that states can downright claim. For any kind of assessment to declare a state as the EV capital would require assessment on metrics such as the state’s GDP, promised investments, impact on the emissions, and peoples’ lifestyles. The investments, policies, and contributions from all the states intend to make EVs a more viable proposition for the consumer market. It’s the consolidated efforts from all the states that will set the actual tone of the EV industry in India.