Bihar’s New Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy aims to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles and the implementation of EV charging stations in the state, ensuring EVs account for 15% of all new vehicles purchased in the state by 2028.

The five-year policy, recently approved by the state cabinet, offers up to ₹125,000 (~$1,499) in purchase incentives for the first 1,000 four-wheeler EV purchases. It also extends a minimum 50% rebate on Motor Vehicle Tax for all new EVs in the state.

The incentives offered under the Bihar Electric Vehicle Policy, 2023, will be in addition to the demand incentives available under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles in India (FAME) II program.

The policy implementation will involve a three-tier arrangement for directives, monitoring, and implementation – State Level EV Steering Committee, EV Monitoring Committee – Transport Department, and District Level EV Committee.

Electric Vehicle Incentives

The policy will offer a purchase incentive of ₹5,000 (~$59.93)/ kWh for the first 10,000 new two-wheeler EVs in the state, with an upper limit of ₹10,000 (~$120) per vehicle for SCT/ST consumers and a maximum of ₹7,500 (~$90) per vehicle for others.

A purchase incentive of ₹10,000 (~$120)/kWh will be offered for the first 1,000 four-wheeler EVs, with an upper limit of ₹150,000 (~$1,797) per vehicle for SC/ST and a maximum of ₹125,000 (~$1,499) for others during the policy period.

It will also provide a 75% rebate in Motor Vehicle Tax for the first 10,000 new purchases and a 50% rebate for subsequent two- and four-wheeler EV purchases.

All licensed aggregators under Bihar Aggregator Operational Directives 2019 will be required to maintain in their two and four-wheeler fleet at least 20% EVs in the first two years, 40% EVs by the end of the third year, and 50% EVs by the end of the fourth year from the date of notification of the policy.

All newly registered commercial electric vehicles, including electric three-wheelers (Passenger Vehicle/Goods Carriage), Light Electric Motor Vehicle (Goods Carriage), and Heavy Electric Motor Vehicle (Bus and Goods Carriage) will be given a due exemption in permit fees.

For all newly purchased Heavy Electric Motor Vehicles (Bus and Goods Carriage), the rebate on Motor Vehicle Tax is set at 75% for the first two years. All subsequent purchases will get a 50% rebate.

Owners of EVs purchased and registered in the state will be eligible for scrapping incentives for old vehicles. Municipal authorities will also provide subsidized parking for all person EVs.

Charging Infrastructure  

Bihar has issued an incentive program for all types of charging stations based on various categories payable for three years.

For Slow/Moderate AC Chargers with three guns, the state will offer up to 75% incentive on the equipment/machinery purchase. It will also provide ₹10,000 (~$120) as installation cost per charger (excluding the cost of land), up to a maximum of ₹50,000 (~$599.23) for the first 600 chargers.

For fast AC chargers with two guns and slow/moderate DC chargers with two guns, the state will offer a 75% incentive on the equipment/machinery purchase. It will also offer ₹25,000 (~$299.62) per charger as installation cost (excluding the cost of land, subject to a maximum of ₹150,000 (~$1,797) for the first 300 chargers.

For a Combined Charging System/CHAdeMO (DC fast charging method) with two guns, the incentive will be 50% of the equipment/machinery purchase cost. It will also provide ₹100,000 (~$1,199) per charger for installation cost (excluding the cost of land), subject to a maximum of ₹1 million (~$11,986) for the first 60 chargers.

All residential and non-residential building owners and associations with a parking area demarcated for at least five equivalent car spaces and bike spaces each will be encouraged through incentives to install at least one Bharat EV AC Charger with three guns.

Public Charging stations can be established on government as well as private land and are to be used for commercial purposes only.

The state has proposed for various government divisions to install 136 public charging stations during the first three years of the policy and 141 over the next two years.

For public charging stations installed on private lands, the incentive will be provided only to the chargers installed in the first three years of the policy.

The public and semi-public charging stations will also receive a 30% subsidy on the power tariff provided by the state transport department.

Battery Recycling

Bihar aims to set up recycling businesses and promote EV battery recycling in collaboration with the battery and EV manufacturers.

The state’s Industries Department is expected to notify a policy for the reuse of batteries in consultation with the state Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Department and Bihar State Pollution Control Board.

According to the Ministry of Heavy Industries, subsidies worth ₹52.28 billion (~$627 million) under the FAME-II program have been disbursed to EV manufacturers on the sale of ~1.15 million EVs as of December 2023.

EV sales in India reached 371,214 units in the third quarter of 2023, a year-over-year increase of 40% compared to 264,781 units sold in the same period last year.