The Rajasthan government has released the Rajasthan Electric Vehicle Policy, 2021, and has become the latest state to follow Goa, Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and West Bengal.

The policy is focused on ramping up sales of electric two-wheelers (E2W) and electric three-wheelers (E3W), also called e-rickshaws, in the state.

According to the state’s transport department, the government will reimburse State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) on the sale of electric vehicles (EV) in Rajasthan. The SGST reimbursement would be based on the SGST amount mentioned in the bill of sale.

The policy also offers subsidies to E2W and E3W based on their battery capacity.

The subsidy is valid from April 1, 2021, until March 31, 2022, on all registered E2Ws and E3Ws in Rajasthan.

On closer inspection, it is evident that the subsidies offered by Rajasthan are much lesser than those offered by states like Gujarat.

The Gujarat EV Policy offers a subsidy of ₹20,000 (~$270) for E2W that cost up to ₹150,000 (~$2,018); ₹50,000 (~$673) subsidy for E3W that cost up to ₹500,000 (~$6,731), and ₹150,000 (~$2,018) subsidy for electric cars that cost up ₹1.5 million (~$20,193).

Also, no subsidies were offered to purchase electric cars and electric buses in Rajasthan, and there is no mention of EV charging infrastructure either.

However, in October 2019, the Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation (RSRTC) had issued a request for proposal (RfP) to select bus operators for the procurement, operation, and maintenance of 50 air-conditioned electric-powered buses under the phase II of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid) and Electric Vehicles in India (FAME II) program.

Last month, the Department of Heavy Industries had announced partial amendments to the FAME-II program. In place of a uniform demand incentive of ₹10000 ($137)/KWh for all vehicles, a specific demand incentive of ₹15,000 (~$205)/kWh for E2Ws has now been announced.

Several states have announced EV policies since last year. The recent policy announced was by Gujarat, aiming to introduce 200,000 EVs on Gujarat’s roads in the next four years. These would include 110,000 E2Ws, 70,000 e-rickshaws, and 20,000 electric cars.

Maharashtra and Goa have issued draft EV policies. While Maharashtra aims for at least 25% of the urban fleet operated by fleet aggregators or operators in the state to transition to EVs by 2025, Goa has proposed that all commercial two-wheelers operating in the state switch to electric by December 31, 2025.

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