UP, Delhi, Karnataka lead in EV sales, 8.7 lakh electric vehicles on Indian roads

Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Karnataka have the highest number of registered electric vehicles in the country, Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

There are 870,141 electric vehicles registered in India currently, Gadkari mentioned in his written reply to a question. Out of this, Uttar Pradesh has the highest share of registered electric vehicles at 255,700.

Delhi (125,347) and Karnataka (72,544) have the second and third highest number of registered electric vehicles among states and union territories, data shared by Gadkari showed. Bihar (58,014) and Maharashtra (52,506) grabbed the fourth and fifth spots.

Gadkari told the Upper House that Ministry of Heavy Industries formulated a the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) Scheme in 2015 to promote adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles in the country and reduce dependency on fossil fuels.

At present, Phase-II of FAME India Scheme is being implemented for a period of 5 years, with effect from April 1, 2019 with a total budgetary support of ₹10,000 crore.

GST on electric vehicles has been reduced from 12 per cent to 5 per cent, while GST on chargers and charging stations for electric vehicles has been reduced from 18 per cent to 5 per cent, the Road Transport Minister added.

In response to a separate question, Gadkari said at present, all fee plazas on national highways are equipped with the FASTag facility. Around 35 banks, including public and private sector lenders, have been engaged as issuer banks to issue FASTags to drivers. Fourteen acquirer banks have also been engaged to process transactions at toll plazas.

“As on December 4, 2021, 4.21 crore FASTags have been issued and approx 97 per cent of total user fee is collected through FASTag,” he said.

Replying to another question, Gadkari said the road transport ministry is primarily responsible for development and maintenance of national highways.

“Apart from this, the ministry also allocates funds for state governments / Union Territories (UTs) for development and maintenance of state roads under the Central Road & Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) and Economic Importance & Interstate Connectivity (EI&ISC) schemes,” Gadkari said.