Electric car owners likely to get subsidy

The government plans to offer a substantial subsidy to car owners opting to switch over to Electric car mode

Transportation is a major source of air pollution in today’s world. Harmful vehicle emissions not only affect public health but also the environment. Several environmentalists have therefore pointed to electric vehicles as a tool to fight global warming. The Indian government, too, seems to be taking an initiative towards promoting the use of these vehicles in the country by planning to offer a subsidy to car owners planning to go electric.

This move of the government comes after the Centre offered a subsidy in this year’s budget under the National Mission on Electric Mobility. The Delhi government, however, does not plan to offer subsidy to e-rickshaws.

According to Kuldeep Gangar, Special Commissioner, Transport Department, the government will offer substantial subsidy to those wishing to switch to electric mode using a specialised conversion kit. He further stated that retrofitted hybrid-electric kits can be used on any vehicle not more than two or three years old.

At present, there is only one company which manufactures this kit which costs less than Rs 1 lakh. According to Gangar, the Centre has proposed to the government to bear half the cost of this fitment initially. Centre hopes that this initiative will encourage other companies to join the bandwagon for manufacturing similar electric kits.

Deployment points for public charging installations in places such as parking lots, malls, cinemas will also be identified by the government to make this move feasible. The government also plans to spread out the charging facility for electric vehicles geographically within 2-3kms.

Reports suggest that the government is readying Rs 1,400 crore scheme to push the usage of green vehicles. The subsidy is expected to be a proportion of the difference between the price of a car running on fossil fuel and that of a green vehicle.