Union Budget 2019 India: In order to incentivise electric vehicle mobility, the Finance Minister has announced that as part of the 2019 Budget, custom duty on certain parts of electric vehicles is being exempted. Nirmala Sitharaman said in order to encourage the faster adoption of electric vehicles in India under the FAME scheme, Rs 10,000 crore have already been approved on April 1, 2019. She further added that only advanced battery and registered e-vehicles will be incentivised under the scheme with greater emphasis on providing affordable and environmentally friendly public transportation options for the common man.

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In addition to this, the government also proposed an additional income tax deduction of Rs 1.5 lakh on the interests paid on loans taken for the purchase of electric vehicles. In order to make electric vehicles more affordable in India, the government said that it has already conveyed to the GST council to lower the tax rate on EVs from 12 per cent to 5 per cent.

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This announcement comes recently after Niti Aayog, the government’s think tank proposing to convert all two-wheelers under 150cc capacity to be converted to all-electric models by 2025 and all three-wheelers to be converted to EVs by 2023.

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The government is also working towards the establishment of the required infrastructure for the smooth operation of electric vehicle in India. By March 2020, it plans to launch electric vehicle highway corridors. A total of 18 charging stations will be established on the combined 500 km distance of the Yamuna Expressway (Delhi-Agra) and the National Highway 48 (Delhi-Jaipur). The Delhi-Agra expressway is going to get 8 charging stations while the Delhi-Jaipur expressway will boast of 10 charging stations. These charging stations are proposed to be established near the toll booths. The new proposals in the 2019 Budget are expected to provide a boost to electric mobility in India.

Inputs: PTI