In a bid to encourage the use of electric vehicles, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Thursday, September 17, announced subsidy schemes for electric two-wheelers and e-rickshaws. The scheme was announced during a virtual programme on climate change to commemorate the founding day of the state climate change department.
Under the scheme, the state government will give a subsidy of Rs 12,000 each to students to buy e-scooters. It will provide assistance to students from class 9 to college to purchase battery-powered to wheelers.
Furthermore, the state government will provide assistance of Rs 48,000 for the purchase of battery-powered e-rickshaws for individual and institutional beneficiaries. The subsidy will provide for first 10,000 two-wheelers and 5,000 three-wheelers.
In addition, a subsidy scheme of Rs 5 lakh, to set up infrastructure facilities in the state for charging battery-powered vehicles has also been announced.
Currently, the state has a total installed capacity of 35,500 MW. Renewable energy has contributed 30 per cent to the total installed capacity, higher than the national average of 23 per cent, Principal Secretary (Climate Change) S J Haider said.
He added that the schemes will be taken forward depending on the response it garners.
At the virtual programme, the CM announced the subsidy as a ‘Panchsheel gift’ of five development schemes in Gujarat to celebrate Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 70th birthday.
During the programme, the CM also stated that in a boost for green energy, the state government has provided subsidy assistance to 1.38 lakh houses to set up rooftop solar power installations. With this support, a total of 510 MW of solar systems have been installed, reported The Hindu Businessline.
Through the Rs 912 crore solar rooftop projects, the state has set a target to cover two lakh houses under this year’s budget.
Furthermore, to work on mitigating the effects of climate change and increase the use of renewable energy, the Climate Change department also signed virtual MoU with 10 organisations.
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