Maharashtra Drafts New EV Policy; Aims For 10 Per Cent Electrification By 2025

Maharashtra was one of the first states in the country to design and notify an EV policy in a bid to complement the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicle II (FAME II) EV policy. The state had released its EV policy back in February 2018 to provide fiscal and nonfiscal incentives to accelerate the adoption and manufacturing of EVs in the state. However, the penetration of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in Maharashtra has remained low and so now the state has revised its EV policy again, providing greater incentives to BEVs and develop a robust infrastructure to promote their sales in the state.

Electric two-wheelers will also be incentivised.

The primary objective of Maharashtra EV Policy 2021 is to accelerate adoption of BEVs in the state so that they contribute to 10 per cent to new vehicle registrations by 2025. Now when you further segregate them into segments, the state is aiming for 10 per cent electrification of two-wheelers, 20 per cent electrification if three-wheelers and 5 per cent electrification of passenger vehicles by 2025. Electrification target for fleet operators and public transport is set at 25 per cent by 2025 and this includes e-commerce brands, last mile connectivity options and mobility aggregators operating in urban areas. MSRTC will also convert 15 per cent of its existing bus fleet to electric.

The state is aiming at 10 per cent overall electrification of vehicles sold in the state by 2025.

Then, the state will also setup at-least one public charging station in a 3 km x 3 km grid or a minimum of 50 charging stations per million population, whichever is higher. By 2025, city-wise targets of public and semi-public charging stations are- Greater Mumbai urban area (UA) - 1500 Pune UA - 500, Nagpur UA - 150, Nashik UA - 100, Aurangabad UA - 75, Amravati - 30 and Solapur - 20. Looking at long distance solution for the same, it will setup public charging stations on highways at 25 km distance on both sides of the highways. These stations should cater to charging requirements of long-haul passenger and freight vehicles like e-buses and electric trucks among others. Moreover, all new government vehicles (owned or leased) operating within the major cities will be made electric starting April 2022.

The government will also convert 15 per cent of its bus fleet to electric.

The Government of Maharashtra will also provide early buyer fiscal incentives to EV buyers in the state on limited number of vehicles required to meet the target, including two-wheelers, three wheelers, four-wheelers and buses. Details are mentioned below in the table.

State government will also engage and encourage financial institutions and banks to offer preferential interest rates on EVsegments like e-autos, goods carriers, and taxis. Moreover, there are also segment-wise scrappage incentives, details of which are mentioned below in the table.

The state government will also incentivise chargin stations.

Other than EVs, the state will also incentivise the charging infrastructure. So, public and semi-public charging stations will be eligible for demand incentives. The charging station will be eligible for the incentives only after commencement of operation at the station. That said, public and semi-public charging stations availing FAME II charging infrastructure incentive will not be eligible for these incentives. Details are mentioned below in the table.

Moreover, charging infrastructure service providers will be allowed to install charging stations in the state as per their business plans. Charging stations developed by the service providers will eventually be dovetailed into the state-level charging infrastructure plan prepared by the State Nodal Agency. Urban local bodies will also be encouraged to provide property tax rebates to residential owners for installing private charging infrastructure within their premises. Then, in cases where any charging station has been installed in the state with Government (Central or State) incentives (financial or otherwise), service providers will be required to follow any regulations related to service charges, as may be notified by the state. The Government of Maharashtra will also implement a timebound, single-window process for installing EV connections that offer EV-specific tariffs.

The government is also providing buyback offers on EVs and batteries.

Lastly, the state is also providing buyback scheme on the same as concerns about battery life lead to anxiety about the resale value as well as difficulties in obtaining loans from financial institutions. To address these concerns for electric 2W and 3W users, the Maharashtra EV policy will provide OEMs additional incentives which will be transferred to the customers for offering a minimum 5- year warranty for batteries. EV makers who offer buyback schemes for vehicles which are up to 5 years old at a value reduced by not more than 7.5 per cent per year will be eligible for additional incentives.