Telangana launched its Electric Vehicle and Energy Storage policy on Friday, in a bid to push manufacturing and become a global hub, as well as push for adoption by increasing the charging infrastructure as well. This makes Telangana only the third state to have such a policy in the country after Delhi and Gujarat.
The policy says that the state wants to be a hub for electric vehicles, storage system and component manufacturing, and wants to attract investments worth $4 billion and create 1,20,000 persons jobs in the sector by 2030.
The policy builds on the Union government’s FAME II scheme for the adoption and manufacturing of electric vehicles. The policy, launched by IT Minister KT Rama Rao and Transport Minister Ajay Kumar, will be effective from 2020 to 2030. The government also signed five MoUs with various companies to manufacture electric vehicles (EVs) in the state. In the state, such a policy has been in works at least since 2017.
In order to push adoption, the government said it will be offering 100% exemption of road tax and registration fee for the first two lakh electric two-wheelers and 5,000 private cars purchased and registered within the state.
The same exemption and waiver will also be given for the first 20,000 electric three-wheelers, first 5,000 electric 4-Wheeler commercial passenger vehicles such as cabs and tourist vehicles, for the first 10,000 electric three-wheeler goods vehicles as well as light goods carriers, for the first 500 electric buses and for tractors.
Battery operated feeder shuttle services at all Hyderabad Metro Stations for last-mile connectivity shall be made available, states the policy.
Ride-hailing services will also be incentivised.
The policy states that the government will facilitate aggregators involved in public transportation with regulatory support to enable them to convert their fleet to EVs.
Charging infrastructure is one of the biggest hurdles towards the adoption of electric vehicles among the general public. In its policy, the government said that it will set up the first batch of fast charging stations in Hyderabad and other towns, which would be both by state entities and private players.
These stations will be placed by the state’s nodal agency for renewable energy, which will be under the franchise, licensee or PPP model, and will be set up in places such as airports, railways stations and metro stations, bus depots, markets, malls and more. The Hyderabad metro will also install charging stations at metro stations, the policy states.
For these charging stations, the Telangana State Electricity Regulatory Commission will also provide special tariffs.
“TSREDCO (State Nodal Agency) in coordination with State DISCOMS shall ensure Supply of Renewable energy for EV charging stations & setting up of solar rooftop plants as per net metering policy and captive power plants shall be encouraged as per the TSREC Guidelines,” the policy states. Telangana’s Principal Secretary for IT Jayesh Ranjan said that town planners have agreed to change norms to have residential townships and malls/institutions mandatorily install charging stations on their premises.
The policy states that residential townships with over 1000 families will be encouraged to develop charging station lots.
To tackle the issue of long distances, the policy states that it will be looking at charging/ swapping stations for every 50 km within state boundaries on the highways to cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Chennai, which will then be followed by other national/state highways.
For last-mile connectivity, the policy states that metro stations and the bus stands of the TSRTC will have reserved parking and charging points for two-wheelers.
For autos, shared mobility taxis and public transport, the policy adds the government will develop night-time community parking with a charging facility in PPP mode.
It will also create a battery disposal infrastructure model.
The five MoUs signed by the government include Mytrah Energy, which has committed to investing Rs 2000 core and generating 6,750 jobs, Olectra, which has committed Rs 300 crore and generating employment of 3500. PUR Energy announced its plans of investing Rs 500 crore in the state generating 1,500 jobs.
ETO Motors too has signed the MOU and committed to investing Rs 150 crore, generating 1,500 jobs. Hyderabad-based EV startup Gayam Motor Works too has announced an investment of Rs 250 crore and aims to generate 1,400 jobs.
Minister KT Rama Rao said that Chandanvelli-Sitarampur in Rangareddy district and Divitipalli in Mahabubnagar district will be developed into EV clusters, and special preference will be given to Telangana manufacturers. A mobility cluster will also be developed next month.
Incentives for manufacturing as part of the policy include a capital investment subsidy, SGST reimbursement, power tariff discount, electricity duty exemption, interest subvention, transport duty reduction, registration fee reimbursement and more.
Like the government has previously done with IT, the policy looks to establish an EV research hub, as KTR also announced. The policy states that a facility will be developed for R&D centres for domestic as well as global players. It added that it will partner with technical institutions and research establishments to establish centres “to conduct market-focused research on Battery Technologies, battery management, motors, and controllers”.
For this, the government will leverage its EV policy of the Union government for a grant.
The policy adds that the Telangana government will give financial support to startups for research and innovation, a yearly award will be instituted for work in battery technologies, and that T-Works will have a wing for the prototyping of EV components, assembly and battery.