There Should Be No Road Tax On Electric Vehicles, Says Amitabh Kant

NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant today said there should be no road tax on electric vehicles to bring the ownership cost of electronic vehicles at par with combustion vehicles.

He said the NITI Aayog has suggested the states do away with road tax and issue green permits for electric vehicles.

"We have proposed to the chief secretaries that there should be no road tax for electric vehicles and green permits," said Mr Kant at Energy Storage India, 2019.

"When the electric vehicle revolution happens, India would be impacted in the biggest way. These initiatives are being taken to bring the ownership cost of electric vehicles at par with combustion vehicles. For India to successfully move away from fossil-fuel dependence, oil companies should become the energy companies of the future," he added.

He said the government think tank had proposed a 'pay per kilometre' model for buses to transform the public transportation system. He said energy storage and battery manufacturing presented a huge opportunity for the country since India would be driving the growth of the auto sector in the future.

NITI Aayog Director General Anil Srivastava said there was a genuine question about the implementation and usability of the electric vehicles, but there was a massive disruption that would happen "fairly soon".

He said even with over 20 favourable policies in place, not a single part used in electric two-wheelers was being made in India.

"A lot of policies have been made to accommodate advance products and systems, but success cannot be achieved till we reach the scale our country has to offer. With over 20 favourable policies in place, not a single part used in electric two-wheelers is being made in India," he said.