MANISH GUPTA
Ranchi, Sept 15: Jharkhand government is all set to attract makers of electric vehicles in the state with the launch of the Jharkhand Electric Vehicle Policy 2022. To make things more interesting, it has announced road tax exemptions for the initial buyers.
The EV policy, drafted by the industry department, aims to make Jharkhand a preferred manufacturing hub for electric vehicles in eastern India. The state cabinet approved the policy on Wednesday. Officials informed that the notification will be out in a few days.
“The policy has several incentives to promote electric vehicle manufacturing in the state. These are largely drawn from the Jharkhand industrial policy including comprehensive project investment subsidy, interest subsidy, stamp duty and registration fee.
“Besides, there is a provision for road tax exemption for electric vehicles manufactured in Jharkhand. The first 10,000 buyers of e-vehicles will get 100 per cent exemption from road tax,” Cabinet Secretary Vandana Dadel said after the cabinet meeting.
The policy also provides for a 75 per cent exemption in road tax for the next 5,000 buyers of e-vehicles. After that, all buyers will get a 25 per cent exemption till the end of the policy period. Purchasers of e-vehicles from outside the state will get a 25 per cent exemption.
The government plans to provide a robust institutional landscape to invite e-vehicle players to the state. It targets 10 per cent of the new vehicle registrations by 2026 to be e-vehicles and plans to convert 15 per cent of the state transport vehicles to electric.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren, at an investor’s meet in Delhi last year, said that the state wants to be a manufacturing hub for electric vehicles. The state government plans to set up an EV cluster on the lines of the Adityapur auto cluster near Jamshedpur.
