Rajasthan Government Approves Electric Vehicle Policy

The Rajasthan Electric Vehicle Policy (REVP) that was pending for about a year has received approval from the Rajasthan Government. The primary objective of the EV Policy is to encourage electric vehicles’ adoption in the state.

In July 2021, a notification was issued by the Transport Department of Rajasthan, which said that electric vehicle purchasers will be reimbursed the State Goods and Service Tax (SGST) amount besides receiving a one-time grant from the government.

The notification had held that the state will give a lump-sum to the EV buyers on the basis of the battery capacity of their electric vehicles. The grant was to be available only to those purchases that were made between 1 April, 2021 and 31 March, 2022 and registered till March 2022. The EV purchase should also have happened in Rajasthan only. The notification also said that grant transfer would happen through the District Transport Officer.

Now the Rajasthan Government has approved an additional budgetary support of Rs 40 crore for the SGST pay back to the eligible beneficiaries. An official statement from the Rajasthan Government stated that Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has approved the new EV Policy; the move will also help the state to reduce pollution caused by fossil fuel based vehicles in the state.

The Electric Vehicle Policy was introduced by CM Ashok Gehlot in the budget for 2019-20 stating that his government aimed at encouraging all types of EVs in Rajasthan.

A reimbursement of Rs 5,000  – 10,000 ( via SGST) was announced by the state government for electric two-wheelers and Rs 10,000 – 20,000 for electric three-wheelers. States like Maharashtra, Delhi and Gujarat are already incentivizing EV sales in the country.  Moreover, electric vehicles are not included in the Motor Vehicle Tax in Rajasthan.

Rajasthan and EV Adoption

According to ‘The Better India’ there is an uneven sales pattern with regards to EVs across Indian states. Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Bihar and Maharashtra have highest EV registrations. Rajasthan was one of the top performing states in electric two-wheeler sales in 2021.

FADA said that demand for electric vehicles in Rajasthan has increased by about 350 per cent last year. In 2020-21 in Rajasthan, the share of electric vehicles in the two wheeler segment was just 1 per cent, which amplified to 6 per cent in 2021-22. In 2020-21, mere 4298 electric two-wheelers were sold that drastically increased to 19306 in 2021-22.