Telangana is warming up to electric vehicles even before a policy is put in place to make commute in the State eco-friendly.
Bringing e-vehicles one step closer to roads, the Road Transport Authority (RTA) has accorded permits to dealers for temporary registrations in the State.
An e-cart and e-rickshaw-maker opened a sales showroom recently in Kukatpally and Uppal, respectively. Before these vehicles can be put on the road, the process of registration begins with temporary registration.
The RTA has now permitted dealers exclusively dealing in e-vehicles to issue temporary registrations, a first for electric vehicles in Telangana.
Electric vehicles, other than two-wheelers, that have been in the market for a while were being registered as they came from stables of manufacturers or dealers that have been selling petrol or diesel vehicles.
“The e-rickshaw is a mass-transport passenger vehicle while the e-cart is to be used for commercial goods carriage. A permit to issue temporary registration was also given to an electric-car manufacturer that has tied up with a cab aggregator,” said Dr. Srinivas Puppala, District Transport Officer for Medchal-Malkajigiri district.
The car-maker, Jayem Automotives, tied up with Tata Motors to electrify Tata Nano under a branding arrangement. Jayem’s electric vehicle, christened Neo, will also be supplied to OLA Cabs, for which temporary registrations can now be raised in Telangana.
When asked whether giving permits to raise temporary registrations can be viewed as Telangana embracing electric vehicles, Transport Commissioner Sunil Sharma concurred and said a policy under development would further encourage e-vehicles to make inroads.
“Infrastructure, including charging stations, that is required to support running of vehicles has to be put in place. A policy is being drafted by the State’s Industries Department to accelerate introduction and use of e-vehicles,” Mr. Sharma said.
Telangana government informed in November last year that it would frame a policy for e-vehicles. The Indian government, however, reportedly said as recently as in February this year that it was not working on such a policy, and would instead rely on guidelines set by NITI Aayog.
Mr. Sharma said that, for now, e-rickshaws are permitted to operate outside the limits of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and some benefits in terms of tax exemption for limited time are also being extended.
