Tamil Nadu's new EV policy offers various incentives for the sector

Reimbursement of state goods and services tax (SGST), investment and turnover based subsidy, advanced chemistry cell subsidy, electrification of public and commercial transport, formation of electric vehicle cities are some of the features of Tamil Nadu Electric Vehicles Policy 2023.

The new policy was released by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Tuesday.

According to the policy, the government will promote Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli, Madurai, Salem, and Tirunelveli as pilot cities for implementing e-mobility solutions.

As per the policy, the term EV includes battery electric vehicles (BEV), plug-in electric vehicles (PEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and strong hybrid electric vehicles (SHEV).

Tamil Nadu has signed MoUs with an investment interest of nearly Rs 24,000 crore and employment potential of 48,000 jobs in the EV value chain.

As per the new policy, EV projects will be provided 100 per cent exemption on electricity tax for a period of five years on power purchased from the Tamil Nadu Generation & Distribution Corporation Limited (TANGEDCO) or generated and consumed from captive sources.

As part of employment generation, EV projects will be provided an employment incentive in the form of the reimbursement of the employer's contribution to the EPF -- maximum Rs 48,000 per employee and residents of Tamil Nadu -- for all new jobs created during the policy period.

The policy also offers financial support companies who wish to transition/diversify into EV manufacturing for upskilling their workforce.

The government has also decided to waive road tax, registration charges and permit fees for EVs.

According to the policy, amendments to building and construction laws will be made to ensure that charging infrastructure is integrated at the planning stage itself for all new constructions and apartments in cities.

Further based on the battery capacity and the vehicle type, Tamil Nadu government will also offer incentives for commercial vehicles ranging between Rs 5,000 to Rs 10 lakh.

As per the new EV policy, the Tamil Nadu government will also revise the power tariff for public charging stations and offer incentives to charging and battery swapping stations.

The state government will also incentivise converting internal combustion engine powered commercial vehicles to EVs.

--IANS

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