Tamil Nadu Industries Minister Thangam Thannarasu indicated on Wednesday that the State government proposes to extend the road tax exemption for electric vehicles for a few more years. The minister said this while announcing that ₹15,610 crore of new investments had come into the State recently, across sectors.
“The government is making some amendments to the existing EV policy. The road tax exemption for EVs will be extended,” he said soon after a Cabinet meeting that was held under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister MK Stalin. The Cabinet today approved ₹15,610.43 crore worth of new investment proposals.
The period for 100 per cent road tax exemption provided for electric vehicles in the State ended on December 31, 2022, and there were concerns and uncertainty among the stakeholders due to the absence of any communication from the government.
“The State is already leading in attracting investments in EV manufacturing. The proposed amendments to the EV policy are aimed at retaining the top position of the state in the EV sector,” said Thennarasu.
The industry minister’s announcement comes as a big relief for EV industry stakeholders, and the move is also expected to accelerate EV adoption in the state.
Alarming tariffs
However, there is also another issue in connection with the tariffs for EV charging stations. Under the new tariff structure, the energy charges per kWh have increased from ₹8.05 to ₹12 for peak hours, an increase of 49 per cent.
But the more alarming part is the fixed charges, which have been increased from ₹70 to ₹300 per kW (for 51–112 kW connections) per month and ₹550 (for above 112 kW) per month.
This is an increase of 328 per cent, according to charging station operators. Earlier, it was only ₹70 up to 150 kW. As the new rates threaten the viability of charging infrastructure businesses, the EV industry has already made representations to the government to reduce the fixed charges for charging stations.
Earlier, Thennarasu said the proposed 8 projects, which will come up with a total investment of ₹15,610 crore, will include an EV cell manufacturing unit, an automobile unit, and projects in wireless technology, textiles, and oxygen production. These projects will generate job opportunities for 8,776 people.
He also said those projects would come up in various parts of the State, and in particular in the southern districts, which have started attracting a good number of investments. Hydrogen projects and non-leather production units will come up in southern districts.