PANAJI
Goa's much publicised push to have more electric vehicles on the roads has not met with any tangible success and currently has just 22,757 light EVs running on the roads.
Of these, only 1,679 availed the State government subsidy according to the information furnished to the Goa Legislative Assembly by Power and Renewable Energy Minister Ramkrishna (Sudin) Dhavalikar.
And, it turns out that most of those who bought EV cars did not bother applying for the State government's subsidy.
Apart from the State subsidy, the central government too provides subsidies at the point of sale.
As on June 30, 2024, there are 22,757 light-powered vehicles in Goa, 20,294 of them two-wheelers and the balance 2,463 are four-wheelers.
Only 316 four-wheeler EV buyers opted for the subsidy and the State government spent around Rs 8.21 crore on it.
As for two-wheeler EVs, there were 1,356 claimants for the State subsidy with the government bearing a financial burden of about Rs 4 crore.
Meanwhile, the subsidy applications of 518 EV car buyers and 1,143 two-wheeler EV buyers are pending with the Goa Energy Development Agency (GEDA), according to Dhavalikar.
