Electric Vehicles In India Could Be Free Of Road Tax — Plus 1 For Electric Mobility?

Electric Vehicle Road Tax: EVs In India should have zero road tax as per NITI Aayog. But are road-tax-free electric vehicles feasible?

Electric Vehicles (EVs) could become road-tax-free in India in the not-too-distant future. The National Institution for Transforming India or NITI Aayog, the 'policy think tank' of the country, suggested that electric vehicles sold in India should be free from road taxes. This will help reduce their market price and also boost the growth of electric mobility in India.

Electric Vehicle Road Tax India

Autocar India shares that the idea was suggested by none other than the CEO of NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant, at Energy Storage India (ESI) 2019. ESI is an international conference and expo that discusses various elements related to energy and electric power.

ESI 2019 concentrated more on how a smooth transition can be made to full-electric mobility and attain Make In India policy. Various OEMs brought up the challenges to reach the goal and also shared some key suggestions to the government.

Speaking at the Make In India session of the two-day event, Amitabh Kant said, "We have proposed to the chief secretaries of the states that there should be no road tax for electric vehicles and issuing a green permit for EVs. When the EV revolution happens, India would be impacted in the biggest way. These initiatives are being taken to bring the ownership cost of EVs at par with combustion vehicles. For India to successfully move away from fossil-fuel dependence Oil companies should become the Energy Companies of the future."

"Energy storage can also fuel public transport revolution in a big way. We have proposed pay per kilometre model for buses to transform the public transportation system. Also, a huge opportunity lies in the conversion of goods mobility fleets to clean fuels such LNG as 78 per cent of goods in India are transported through lorries. India must seize the 81 per cent value that lies in battery manufacturing. Energy storage and battery present a huge opportunity which we should capitalise since India will be driving the growth of the auto sector in the future," he further added.

Meanwhile, Anil Srivastava, Director General of NITI Aayog shared, "There is a genuine question from the people regarding the implementation and usability of the EVs, but there is a massive disruption that will happen fairly soon. A lot of policies have been made to accommodate advance products and systems but success cannot be achieved till we reach the scale our country has to offer. With over 20 favourable policies in place, not a single part used in e2Ws is being made in India. We are here to support the industry in every possible way so as to encourage indigenous manufacturing."

The government will hopefully consider the above-mentioned suggestions and make electric mobility, an attainable goal.

Thoughts On Making Electric Vehicles In India Road-Tax-Free

With the rise in pollution levels due to an excessive amount of traffic, the Indian government is left with no other choice rather than rapidly promoting electric vehicles. However, with the current level of infrastructure and market experience available, electric vehicles have still got a long way to go before becoming widely popular in the country. By making them free from road tax, a difference could be made.

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Read more on: #auto news #green vehicles
Article Published On: Monday, January 14, 2019, 11:34 [IST]
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