E-car buyers in Chandigarh to get incentive after approval of quota hike by Centre

The much-awaited incentive on the purchase of electric cars after the enhancement of quota will be released after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) clears the hike. The UT Administration had increased the incentive quota for four-wheelers by 1,500 vehicles in July.

The UT Administration offers a financial benefit in the range from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh each to the buyer of electric four-wheelers. However, the incentive was discontinued after the quota of first 2,000 cars fixed in the Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy rolled out in September 2022 exhausted early this year.

On a proposals of by the UT Electric Vehicle Advisory Committee, the UT Administration had on July 31 enhanced the cap on the number of electric four-wheelers eligible for the incentive from 2,000 to 3,500 units.

According to officials, the proposal was sent to the Finance Department and after getting approval from the department, it would be sent to the MHA for a final approval.

Making amendments to the EV Policy, the Administration had also proposed to provide insurance assistance of up to Rs 5,000 for the first year to the buyers of electric two-wheelers and also increased the subsidy for electric two-wheelers from Rs 5,000/kWh to Rs 10,000/kWh, subject to a maximum of Rs 30,000 per vehicle.

The Administration has also proposed to give women buying electric two-wheelers an enhanced subsidy of Rs 12,500/kWh, capped at Rs 37,500 per vehicle. The incentive for electric bicycles has also been increased from 25% of the cost (up to Rs 4,000) to 25% of the cost, up to Rs 6,000.

According officials, the incentives would be released and other proposals would be implemented only after getting a final approval from the MHA.

At present, the maximum incentive on an e-car has been capped at Rs 1.5 lakh. After the quota was increased by 1,500 from August 1, nearly 350 vehicles have been sold so far. Nearly 250 vehicles were sold after the incentive quota exhausted till July 31.

The officials said the owners of nearly 600 four-wheelers had to wait for the incentive till the approval was accorded by the ministry.

Chandigarh’s EV policy, in effect for over two and a half years, has so far seen the registration of around 20,000 electric vehicles in the city, including 6,212 e-two-wheelers and 3,982 e-cars. The administration has also implemented additional measures such as free registration through the RLA office, which is aimed at increasing the share of electric vehicles in the city by 18 per cent.