No Road Tax, Zero Registration Fee for EVs in Telangana From Feb 3

The Telangana Government has released an order on Tuesday, declaring there will be no registration fees along with no road tax for electric vehicles (EVs) in the state, effective Wednesday, February 3. 

The order says that 100 percent road tax and registration fee exemption would be given for the first two lakh electric two-wheelers, first 20,000 electric three-wheelers, first 10,000 electric light goods carriers including three-wheelers, first 5,000 private cars, and 5,000 electric four-wheelers (commercial passenger vehicles like cabs and tourist taxis). 

 The first 500 electric buses and electric tractors purchased within Telangana also qualify. The orders follow the announcement of the Telangana EV policy last year,

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The government has also announced a retro-fitment incentive at 15 percent of the cost, capped at ₹15,000 to the first 5,000 existing three-wheelers, on converting their diesel or petrol engines to battery-run engines.

The exemption and incentives would only be valid for vehicles registered within Telangana state.

State transport minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar invited private entrepreneurs and green energy producers to make use of the incentives being given by the state government.

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The policy is expected to be in force till 2030, with the government also looking to extend support to the private sector for establishing charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. It invites for setting up charging or swapping stations at every 50 km on national and state highways within the state and encourages existing residential townships with 1,000 plus families to develop charging stations lots.

Additionally, to promote EV adoption in the state, the policy also proposes that the Telangana State Electricity Regulatory Commission shall provide a special power tariff category for electric vehicle charging stations. The Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corporation will act as a nodal agency to establish public charging stations directly or under the licensee/franchise/PPP model. Following the proposals, various public places such as airports, railway/ metro stations, parking lots, bus depots, markets, petrol stations, malls, and electric poles shall be examined for the same. Indications are that the cost per unit of power at charging stations would be at ₹ 6 to ₹ 7 per unit, although many startups have gone with a business model that charges by the hour or every 30 minutes of charging.

Exemption from road tax and registration has been the preferred starting point for most states in India when it comes to EV’s, with some states like Delhi even adding in a state subsidy for the shift, though always with a cap.