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India would require capital expenditure to the tune of Rs 16,000 crore by 2030, to meet its public EV charging demand and to achieve the mission of over 30 per cent electrification, as per a report by industry body FICCI.
According to the 'FICCI EV Public Charging Infrastructure Roadmap 2030' put out on Monday, to achieve profitability and scalability, India needs to aim for higher utilization of charging stations. The report further suggests that the top 40 cities could be prioritized for scaling up public charging infrastructure. The report argued that those top cities are expected to have higher EV penetration in the next 3-5 years given the current EV adoption rate, and favourable state policies. With requisite demand and supply side enablers in place, India can achieve its mission of 30-40% electrification by 2030, the FICCI report asserted. Uptake of EVs is driven by typically five interdependent factors, involving multiple stakeholders -- Economics, battery developments, regulations, supply/consumer pull and state of charging infrastructure. India has multiple regulatory incentive schemes to encourage EV growth. After the expiration of the FAME II scheme in 2023-24, the government announced the PM E-DRIVE scheme through 2025-26, which offers an incentive of Rs 5,000/kWh for E2W and E3W up to 15 per cent of the ex-factory cost and Rs 10,000/kWh for E-buses up to 20 per cent of the ex-factory cost. GST rates on EVs are applicable at 5 per cent flat versus 28-50 per cent for Internal Combustion Engine products. At the same time, higher taxation on imports of EV components and built vehicles has been imposed to promote local production. Various states have also come up with their incentives -- from waived fees/ tolls/ taxes, preferentially electricity rates, to infrastructure subsidies and low-interest loans. Asserting that E2W and E3W have underlying positive economics in India, the FICCI report suggested that E4W may now need financial support to accelerate adoption. The report also called for standardization of GST rates (from 18 per cent to 5 per cent) for EV charging services in line with taxation across the EV value chain. (ANI)
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