Promoting electric vehicles foremost priority of TS government: Puvvada Ajay Kumar

Hyderabad: Telangana transport minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar on Saturday said promoting electric vehicles (EV) is the foremost priority of the state government.

Mr. Kumar was speaking at a high-level ministerial round table conference organized by the Central ministry of heavy industries in Goa to promote electric vehicles. The minister addressed the session regarding the impetus of adopting and manufacturing EVs in Telangana. He said TS has become the third state in India to launch an electric vehicle and energy storage policy after Delhi and Gujarat.

The minister said the Telangana government, as part of its new policy to promote electric vehicles, offers 100% exemption of road tax and registration fee for the first two lakh electric two-wheelers purchased and registered within the state. Besides, the first 20,000 autos, 10,000 light goods vehicles, 5,000 electric cars, and the first 500 electric buses would also be exempted from road tax and registration fee.

The Telangana government is also promoting the use of electric vehicles in the public transport system and is taking necessary steps to set up charging stations. The state will develop new policies and provide incentives for the manufacture and use of electric vehicles in line with the latest policies, Mr. Kumar added.

He said Telangana is a major base for EV and ESS (Energy Storage System) sectors and will attract investments worth US$ 4 billion and create employment for 1,20,000 persons by 2030 through EVs in shared mobility, charging infrastructure development, and EV and ESS manufacturing activities.