The number of electric vehicles in the country has been steadily increasing over the past few years. In this regard, during the Lok Sabha session, Dr. Amar Lassingh and Vijay Kumar Hansdak posed some questions to the heavy industries minister of the country, in which they asked, – In the last five years, what is the number of electric vehicles sold in scooters, autos, cars and trucks in different segments of the country? What is the number of e-vehicles currently available for sale in the market under various segments? Does the government have any plans to address structural challenges to electric vehicle adoption, such as high vehicle costs, consumer perceptions of charging and battery technology? Answering all these questions, the Minister informed the House and the nation about the current status of electric vehicles in India.
What did Krishna Pal Gurjar say?-
Minister of State for Industries Krishna Pal Gurjar, while replying to these questions in the House, said that according to e-vehicle portal of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, electric vehicles have been sold in the country in the last five years. The two-wheeler segment grew by 4,000, accounting for 5.28% of the total sales of 92,76,337 units, the three-wheeler segment at 3,00,114, accounting for 52.41% of the total 5,72,654 units, 184 in the four-wheeler segment, accounting for 1.99% of the total 20,20,459 units sold. Go, 1,512 units in the cargo vehicle segment, which is 0.31% of the total 4,90,920 units and 985 vehicles out of 47,058 vehicles are for public transport. These figures are from 2018 to 1 August 2023.
Responding to other questions, the minister said that to accelerate the adoption and production of hybrid and electric vehicles in India (FAME India), the government has launched the FAME India scheme for five years from April 1, 2019, with a total budgetary support of Rs 10,000 crore. Crores, phase-2 has started. It offers financial incentives to buyers of electric vehicles in the form of upfront rebates on their purchase price.
Govt reduced taxes-
Under the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the automotive sector, the government has approved this PLI scheme on 15 September 2021 with a budget of Rs 25,938 crore. This PLI scheme also covers electric vehicles. Also, the government has approved the PLI scheme for the development of Advanced Chemicals Cell (ACC) on 12 May 2021, with a budget of Rs. 18,100 crores. Apart from this, GST on electric vehicles has been reduced from 12% to 5% and GST on charging stations has also been reduced from 18% to 5%. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has also announced that battery-powered vehicles will be given green license plates and will not require a permit. Along with this, information was also given about making the road tax of electric vehicles zero.