Nearly 17K vehicles on road, but only 38 stations
PANAJI
While Goa’s national electric vehicle (EV) count may not stand out, the market within the State is rapidly expanding, boasting 16,943 vehicles on the road, as of April 29, 2024.
From mid-July 2023, till when 12,139 vehicles were sold, to April 29, 2024, the figures climbed to 16,943, marking an increase of over 4,800 units within just nine months.
According to data from the Transport Department, 16,639 are non-transport vehicles and 304 are transport vehicles, with the highest being two-wheelers (14,674) followed by four-wheelers (1,999). Besides these, 108 are buses, primarily from KTCL, 111 three-wheelers, 49 goods carriers and 2 ‘other’ vehicles.
Assistant Director of Transport Francisco Vaz has conceded a rise in the e-vehicle trend. “The purchase of e-vehicles is certainly on the rise,” he said, speaking to The Goan.
As per the data by the Ministry of Heavy Industries till July 14, 2023, Goa ranked 21st in EV sales, accounting for only 0.44 per cent of total sales across India. Uttar Pradesh led with a 20 per cent market share.
However, within Goa, there’s a significant uptick in EV sales. The contrasting picture is that of EV charging stations with only 38 set up so far compared to the average number of EVs in the State. Of these, three are owned by charging companies, 14 are privately owned and 21 are owned by petroleum companies, according to the Goa Energy Development Agency (GADA) data.
The ‘Goa State Energy Vision 2050’ targets a minimum of 75 per cent adoption for public transport, 100 per cent for two-wheelers and taxis, and at least 50 per cent for ferry boats, by 2050.
Under the subsidy policy, the government decided to provide subsidies from Rs 8,000 to Rs 1 lakh for retrofitting, scrapping, de-registration of old internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, and the purchase of new EVs – only for around 5,600 EV buyers.
