Around 2,000 people have been provided subsidies for the purchase of two-wheeler Electric Vehicles (EVs) in the state of Gujarat. Each beneficiary has been provided a subsidy of 10,000 (~$156) for purchasing an EV two-wheeler.

The incentive was part of Gujarat Energy Development Agency (GEDA)’s plan to implement a subsidy program for school students (standards 9 to 12) as well as college students in the cities of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, Surat, Gandhinagar. The state government’s plan is aimed at increasing the uptake of EVs in the state.

A GEDA official told Mercom, “In the current fiscal, 2,000 individuals have been provided subsidy grants. This is a massive increase when compared to the previous fiscal. In financial year 2016-17, 1,000 subsidy grants were made and in 2015-16, only 500.”

The substantial increase in the number of consumers is indicative of the fact that the government’s efforts towards increasing the consumer-base of EVs has borne fruit. In the coming years, this program will be extended to other cities of Gujarat.

When asked if GEDA is going to come up with a policy for EVs covering all the segments, the GEDA official said, “In the next fiscal, the state government will come up with such a policy. It is not GEDA who can decide on that, but considering the recent developments, I can say that Gujarat too will soon have a specific EV policy.”

The EV industry in the country is still in its nascent stage. So far in India, the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka have come up with their specific policies for EVs.

As reported previously by Mercom, India is targeting the deployment of five to seven million electric vehicles in the country by the year 2020 under the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020.

However, due to absence of proper framework for the EV industry and relative inaction, the country has not managed to achieve much progress in the sector.

Image credit: Wikipedia