Uttar Pradesh targets Rs 30,000 crore investment in electric mobility

Plans to develop western, central UP as e-vehicle hubs

Even as speculation is rife about the launch of ‘Tata Nano’ car in a refurbished electric variant by the Tata Group, the Yogi Adityanath government is looking to position Uttar Pradesh as an e-vehicle hub in India.

More specifically, the government has envisaged the western and central UP regions to develop as potential e-vehicle hubs owing to the presence of a large network of expressways and proximity to the National Capital Region (NCR).

Besides, the Eastern and Western Freight Corridors as well as the proposed Jewar International Airport are also in the western region of UP to supplement the e-vehicle roadmap.

Under the UP Electric Vehicle Manufacturing and Mobility Policy 2022, the state has set the target of garnering Rs 30,000 crore of fresh investment and generating a million fresh job opportunities in the sector.

Recently, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had underlined that since a large number of manufacturers of e-vehicles and spare parts were operating in the central and western regions, the state should facilitate their expansion and diversification.

“The state will leverage the overarching goal of the domestic two-wheeler and car markets transitioning into an electric ecosystem in the future,” a senior state government official said.

The government has zeroed-in on Lucknow, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Kanpur City and Meerut districts as potential e-vehicle hubs. The state is confident that the e-vehicles sector would provide the much needed manufacturing push to progress towards the ambitious $trillion economy target.

UP is not only looking at the domestic market but to boost the exports of e-vehicles to countries, including the US, UK, Australia, Africa apart from the Asian region.

Meanwhile, the new policy has tried to cater to the three main dimensions: encouraging the sale of e-vehicles; promoting manufacturers of e-vehicles and components such as batteries; and developing a robust network of charging points and battery swap centres.

The state allows for 100 percent registration fee and road tax exemptions on e-vehicles, which are purchased and registered in UP within three years of the notification of the policy. Besides, an electric two-wheeler is eligible for a 15 percent discount on ex-factory cost, up to a maximum of Rs 5,000.

Besides, the new policy will support 50,000 electric three-wheelers with a subsidy of 15 percent on ex-factory cost, up to a ceiling of Rs 12,000.

Additionally, there are subsidies and incentives for the manufactures in the form of capital subsidy and stamp duty exemption.