The Maharashtra government has announced to postpone the implementation of its new Electric Vehicle (EV) policy for one year.
The new policy stated that from April 2022 all new government vehicles, either owned or leased, operating in major cities would have to be electric cars.
The move comes after opposition from various government departments which pointed out the absence of adequate charging points across the state for these vehicles and also questioned how the EVs would fare in remote parts of the state where road networks are not up to the mark.
Taking into cognizance these issues, the state Environment Department has issued a government resolution stating that government departments can now postpone procurement of these EVs to April 2023.
Earlier, the Environment Department had made EV purchase mandatory for Mantralaya departments, the state Pollution Control Board, Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation, all local self-governments, director of town planning, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, Nagpur Metropolitan Region Development Authority, Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority, Information and Public Relations Department, state Public Service Commission, state Information Commission, Lokayukta, all police commissionerates, Forensic Department, Transport Department, Maharashtra Maritime Board, High Court and account offices.
In July last year, the Maharashtra government had released its electric vehicle (EV) policy that aims to accelerate the adoption of such vehicles in such a way that these contribute to 10 per cent of all new vehicles by 2025.
The policy also proposed to achieve 25 percent electrification of public transport and last-mile delivery vehicles by 2025 in six targeted urban agglomerations – Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Amravati and Nashik.
The policy, which will be in force till March 2025, aims to transform Maharashtra into a leading state in terms of the adoption of electric vehicles.
As per the policy, in new vehicle registrations, the state is aiming at 10 percent share of EVs in total, 10 percent EVs in two-wheelers, 20 percent EVs in three-wheelers and 5 percent in four-wheelers by 2025.
At least 25 percent of the urban fleet operated by fleet aggregators or operators in the state will transition to EVs by 2025. This applies to e-commerce companies, last-mile delivery/logistic players and mobility aggregators operating in urban areas.
It further proposed to convert 15 percent of state-owned road transport corporation’s existing bus fleet to electric by 2025.