India’s first official electric vehicle (EV) policy has reportedly gone live in the state of Maharashtra, investing ₹930 crore (around $A1 billion) to create higher EV subsidies which will benefit not only those looking for a new EV, but also two-wheel EVs, which will supposedly benefit from the largest share of new incentives in the state.
Maharashtra, in India’s west and central peninsula region, announced its new EV Policy 2021 back in July, but only brought it into effect last week. According to the Hindustan Times, the new EV policy aims to increase the number of electric vehicles on the state’s roads to 300,000 by 2025.
The new incentives, which will also go a long way to fulfilling the state’s dream of becoming India’s EV hub, will see both four- and two-wheel EVs benefit from a base incentive of ₹5,000 ($AU92.5) per kWh of battery capacity.
According to the auto reporters at the Hindustan Times, it appears as if the maximum incentive for four-wheel EVs is capped at ₹1.5 lakh, which written out is ₹150,000, and converts to around $AU2,800, while the minimum incentive for two-wheel EVs will be ₹10,000 ($AU185) and its top-end is uncapped.
According to Tarun Mehta, the co-founder and CEO of Indian electric scooter company Ather Energy, the price of the company’s Ather 450 and Ather 450X electric scooters will be the lowest in Maharashtra.
EV subsidies finally are going live in Maharasthra.
Prices of 450+ come down by ~24K and is now priced at 1.03L in the state, lowest in the country today.
Honestly, 450+ at a price lower than several 125cc scooters is a bonkers pricing!
— Tarun Mehta (@tarunsmehta) September 13, 2021
The new EV policy in Maharashtra also allows customers to take advantage of an early bird discount of up to ₹100,000 ($AU1,850) on the purchase of an electric car of SUV before the end of the year.
Similarly, the Maharashtra government also announced incentives for charging infrastructure, with a standard charging station able to recoup incentive of ₹10,000 ($AU185) while fast-charging stations are eligible for an incentive of up to ₹5 lakh (₹500,000, or around (AU$9,250).
Author’s note: Any confusion in incentive prices is due to a lack of independent sourcing and confusion over Indian currency unit measurements