The ambitious electric vehicle (EV) subsidy scheme - which was abruptly discontinued in July 2022 - is yet to see the light of day even a year after Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced its relaunch to boost the sale of electric vehicles. Also, a scheme proposing e-bikes to journalists is yet to materialise.
Even after Rs 25 crore provisions made in the State Budget 2023-24, the revised EV policy - drafted by the Department of New and Renewable Energy - is pending financial approval for more than three months now. Even the e-bike scheme is kept on hold by the Finance Department, which has imposed restrictions on the revenue spending of the government.
Sources informed that both the proposals would be cleared in the new fiscal year 2024-25 as the State is currently facing a financial crunch.
In November 2021, the government had launched a subsidy scheme to promote electric vehicles, but with the growing demand for EVs, the subsidy was stopped on July 31, 2022 onwards.
According to the policy, the subsidy amount was capped at Rs 30,000 per vehicle for two-wheelers, Rs 60,000 per vehicle for electric three-wheelers, and Rs 3 lakh per vehicle for electric four-wheelers.
The subsidy was limited to a maximum of 3,000 electric two-wheelers, 50 three-wheelers, and 300 four-wheelers.
“We have already redrafted the policy as promised in the Budget. Now the Finance Department has to clear it. It is pending with them since October-November 2023,” New and Renewable Energy Minister Ramakrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar said.
Sources in the Directorate of Information and Publicity (DIP), the nodal agency to draft the E-bike scheme for the journalist, informed that the file is pending with the Finance Department for quite some time now.
“We don’t think that the proposal will be approved this financial year as there are curbs imposed on spending. The CM will also table the new Budget next month, and we are hopeful that some provision would be made for the scheme,” sources said.
According to the data, for the financial year 2022-23, Goa saw a record purchase of 7,093 E-vehicles as compared to 1,816 in 2021-22. Last financial year, a total of 6,325 EV two-wheelers were sold as against 1,443 in 2021-22.
The four-wheeler contributes only 11 per cent of the total EV purchase in the State so far. Of the total 1,089 four-wheelers, 684 were purchased in the last financial year.
