Tamil Nadu plans to attract ₹500 billion (~$6.04 billion) in investments in the electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing segment and create 150,000 new jobs in the next five years, the state government’s EV Policy 2023 said.

Further, the policy would facilitate the manufacturing of EVs, EV components, and charging infrastructure in the state with an EV special manufacturing package.

The policy will be valid for five years.

The policy aims to make Tamil Nadu a preferred destination for EV manufacturing in Southeast Asia. Additionally, the policy seeks to accelerate EV adoption and enhance the EV ecosystem’s development in the state.

The policy has announced a host of concessions to be provided by the state government. These are broadly divided into three categories: supply side, demand side, and EV charging infrastructure.

Supply Side Measures

Eligibility 

To avail incentives under the package, the investment in the eligible fixed assets (EFA) should be greater than ₹500 million (~$6.04 million) and create at least 50 direct jobs.

For projects with investment in EFA below ₹500 million (~$6.04 million), the Tamil Nadu Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Policy 2021 would be applicable.

Inclusion of R&D in EFA

To encourage research and development (R&D) in EV manufacturing, EFA shall include the following R&D-related expenditure, subject to a ceiling of up to 20% of EFA:

• Expenditure incurred on new R&D: Test and measuring instruments, prototypes used for testing, purchase of design tools, software cost, and license fee, expenditure on technology, patents, and copyrights for R&D
• Expenditure related to the transfer of technology agreements: This will include the cost of technology and initial technology purchase related to the goods that are used in manufacturing and R&D for EVs

Investment Promotion Subsidy 

New projects in the manufacturing of EVs, EV components, EV supply equipment, or EV charging infrastructure can avail incentives under one of the four options provided below based on their eligibility.

• Reimbursement of SGST: New projects for manufacturing EVs will be eligible for 100% reimbursement of the State Goods and Service Tax (SGST) payable on the sale of EVs manufactured, sold and registered in the state for 15 years from the date of commercial production.
• Turnover-based Subsidy: New projects will be eligible for a subsidy of up to 2% of the project’s annual turnover, subject to a yearly cap of 4% of the cumulative investment in EFA for ten years from the date of commercial production. 

• Capital Subsidy: New eligible projects can avail of a capital subsidy of 15% of investment in EFA, which will be disbursed in ten equal annual installments.

• Special ACC Capital Subsidy: New projects in advanced chemistry cells (ACC) manufacturing will be eligible for a special capital subsidy of 20% of investment in qualified fixed assets, which will be disbursed in ten equal annual installments.

Electricity Tax Exemption

Projects will be provided 100% exemption on electricity tax for a period of five years on power purchased from the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) or generated and consumed from captive sources.

Stamp Duty

Projects that obtain land by sale or lease will be entitled to a 100% exemption on stamp duty for the purchase or lease of land obtained from the government. In the case of private land, a 100% stamp duty concession will be provided.

Intellectual Property Creation Incentive

Under this incentive component, projects will be eligible for 50% reimbursement on the cost incurred for patents, copyrights, and trademarks, subject to a maximum of ₹10 million (~$120,757) for the period of the investment during the policy period.

Interest Subvention

The state will provide an interest subvention of 5% as a rebate on the interest rate, on actual term loans taken to finance the project, for six years, subject to the limits mentioned in the table below.

Special Incentives for MSME Sector

An additional capital subsidy of 20% will be offered over and above the eligibility limit under the existing capital subsidy program to MSME units engaged in manufacturing EV components or the development of charging infrastructure.

Demand Side Measures

Electrification of Vehicular Fleets

The state will develop a roadmap to electrify public and institutional fleets operating in the state in a phased manner.

The state transport undertaking buses constitute a substantial percentage of the public transport in Tamil Nadu. The state plans to increase the share of electric buses to 30% of the fleet by 2030.

Vehicular fleets of educational institutions such as schools and colleges and private buses in the state will be encouraged to transition to EVs in a gradual manner.

Also, staff bus operators for industrial establishments and service sector enterprises will be encouraged to transition to an EV fleet, given the advantage in the total cost of ownership.

Demand Aggregation

The government will undertake efforts to collaborate with demand aggregators such as Convergence Energy Services to conduct a demand assessment study and aggregate demand for EVs to enable cost discovery and reduce procurement costs.

Road Tax Exemption

The government plans to provide a 100% road tax exemption until December 31, 2025, for battery-operated vehicles, namely, two-wheelers, private cars, three-seater auto-rickshaws, transport vehicles, light goods carriers, and buses.

Waiver on Registration Charges

Waiver on registration charges will be provided until December 31, 2025, for battery-operated vehicles, namely, two-wheelers, private cars, three-seater auto-rickshaws, transport vehicles, light goods carriers, and buses.

Waiver on Permit Fees

Waiver on permit fees will be provided for battery-operated vehicles, namely, auto-rickshaws, transport vehicles, light goods carriers, and buses.

Special Incentives

The state government will seek to provide the initial impetus for driving EV adoption in the state by incentivizing commercial vehicles by providing the following incentives until December 31, 2025.

Charging Infrastructure

Tariff for EV Charging

A new category has been created for public charging stations, and private charging stations will be treated as domestic consumption.

To support the growth of public charging stations, the government will revise the energy tariffs, with due approval from Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNREC). The proposed revision will seek to decrease the cost of operations for public charging stations operators with the following changes:

• Reduction in demand charges: Reduction of existing charges by 75% for the first two years and after that by 50% for the subsequent two years
• Reduction in energy charges: Reduction of charges by 50% between 8 AM and 4 PM to incentivize charging during non-peak hours to promote usage of renewable energy for EV charging

The supply of renewable energy will be ensured to public and private charging stations and public battery swapping stations on a preferential basis with applicable TNERC levies.

Public charging Stations

Firms planning to establish public charging stations in Tamil Nadu will be eligible for a 25% subsidy of the cost involved in the purchase of equipment and machinery during the policy period

Fast charging stations will be provided incentives up to ₹1 million (~$12,076), and slow charging stations will be provided incentives up to ₹100,000. The government has decided to incentivize 20 fast charging stations and 500 slow charging stations.

Private Charging stations

The first 50 private charging stations set up in the state will be eligible for a capital subsidy of 25% on the cost involved in purchasing equipment and machinery during the policy period.

Incentives for Public Battery Swapping Stations

The first 200 public battery swapping stations set up will be eligible for a capital subsidy of 25% on the cost involved in the purchase of equipment and machinery limited to ₹200,000 (~$2,415) per station.

Retrofitting

The government will also incentivize commercial vehicles, which will retrofit their existing internal combustion engine vehicles and convert them into EVs.

The E-2 wheelers will be provided an incentive of ₹10,000 (~$120.8)/kWh, and E-3 wheelers will also be provided a subsidy of ₹10,000 (~$120.8)/kWh. The government aims to incentivize 30,000 E-2 wheelers and 15,000 E-3 wheelers.

EV Cities

The government will declare Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli, Madurai, Salem, and Tirunelveli, as EV cities to provide an impetus toward EV adoption. The smart city commissioner will be appointed as the nodal officer in each of these cities to coordinate and drive EV adoption.

In the last six months, many states have announced new EV Policies to facilitate the adoption of EVs.

Last October, the union territory of Chandigarh announced its new EV policy. Chandigarh has targeted 70% of all new vehicle registrations in the union territory to be EVs in the next five years. Chandigarh plans to establish itself as a ‘Model EV City’ by achieving one of the highest penetration of zero-emission vehicles amongst all Indian cities.