VIKANT SAHAY
vikant@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Following a fillip in the Union budget earlier this year to encourage use of electrical vehicles (EVs), the Goa government will have its new Goa Electric Vehicle Policy by July 15 this year.
Speaking exclusively to Herald the Power minister of Goa Nilesh Cabral said, “We are ready with the new policy and in all likelihood it will be passed in the next cabinet meet and that too before July 15. We are now trying to make the electric two wheelers cheaper than the petrol version of two wheelers. We are arranging 50-55 per cent subsidy on electric two wheelers. The government of Goa will bear 20 per cent of this and remaining will be done by Central government schemes, manufacturers etc. In fact, the State will be encouraging people in Goa to buy electric two and four wheelers.”
Only those manufacturers who are tying up with Goa government will get the benefit and those who will manufacture these electric two wheelers in Goa will get an additional five per cent subsidy. The government of Goa is also working on provision of loans and setting up charging stations for electrical vehicles in the State.
The clean mobility scheme will be applicable for the first 10,000 electric two-wheelers sold in the State, which will reduce 5,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions every year and remove ten per cent of polluting vehicles off Goa’s roads. The scheme is being implemented by Convergence Energy Services Ltd (CESL), a Government of India company which is also working on making solar power chargers for these two wheelers and Goa government is already in talks with them.
“Goa is a small State and it is very difficult to bargain. We intend to install in phases about 100 charging stations all over Goa by March next year. In the first phase 25 charging stations will be installed by July 31,” said the Power minister to Herald and added that it will be done in four phases and by September this year Goa will be having about 50 charging stations. The Power department in Goa is tying up with Goa Tourism Development Corporation, PWD, Panchayat, Municipal Corporation etc to find space for installation of these charging stations.
“We are coming up with the scheme that the charging stations will be managed by local people so that it generates more employment Goa while the electricity department will supply the power and about 80 KVA power plant needs to be installed to fulfil this need and we are working simultaneously to achieve it,” said Nilesh Cabral. These charging stations will be equipped enough to charge any electric vehicle. Goa has close to a million two-wheelers in Goa, comprising almost 70 per cent of the state’s vehicle population.
The electric two-wheeler will takes nearly 3-4 hours to get fully charged and can run about 100 kilometers on a single charge. The Goa government is working on making it easier for people to switch to electric vehicles by offering a host of subsidies and incentives. “In fact, electric vehicles will ultimately be much cheaper to operate than vehicles on fossil fuel. In fact, one of the reports said that according to the size of the state (area wise) the consumption of diesel and petrol in Goa was highest in the country,” said Nilesh Cabral.
When asked whether the government is thinking to install these charging stations in large building complexes, the minister said, “We have no issue we can install it provided it is made available for use of common public too. For that we are willing to tie-up with various societies which are willing to accept the criteria set by the government. We also want solar panels to be installed in large complexes.”
Herald also asked how many EVs will be used by the state government to which the Power minister replied that, “See the first 10,000 two wheelers will be getting that 55 per cent subsidy. The government will not buy the vehicles but we are arranging for hiring of vehicles from private owners as we have our own drivers and we are at the beginning looking for hiring 100 EV cars.”
