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Maharashtra yet to embrace electric vehicles, only 1,748 registered in 21 months

In the current financial year, electric auto-rickshaws are the highest number of electric vehicles in contrast with the previous year having two-wheelers in the lead

Maharashtra yet to embrace electric vehicles, only 1,748 registered in 21 months
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Data on electric vehicles registered in Maharashtra shows that not too many people have been investing in eco-friendly, battery-operated vehicles. According to the data that was available for the first time, only 1,748 electric vehicles were registered between April 2016 and December 2017.

As per state transport department that has over three crore registered vehicles, 976 vehicles were registered from April 2016 to March 2017, while 772 were registered from April to December 2017. An average of 23 lakh fossil fuel-run, non-eco-friendly vehicles are added to this fleet, annually.

In the current financial year, electric auto-rickshaws are the highest number of electric vehicles in contrast with the previous year having two-wheelers in the lead. From April 2016 to March 2017, 860 two-wheelers were registered, while in the current year, only 233 of them have been registered.

An interesting figure of 323 e-rickshaws were registered from April 2017 to date, which is shocking as not even a single e-auto was registered in 2016-17. These have mainly been registered in the Vidarbha region and have replaced cycle rickshaws.

Only 198 electric cars were registered in this 21-month-period. A Tesla car worth ₹2 crore bought by a senior executive in south Mumbai was also included in this list. 

There are 13 electric buses running on the state roads currently. Four of which are owned by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking. The civic body is now expected to induct more e-buses in its fleet soon.

Five electric vehicles were registered in the goods carrier category along with two electric agriculture tractors. A total of 18 electric vehicles were registered in Mumbai from April to December 2017, of which 11 were registered at the Tardeo RTO.

Renowned renewable energy expert Dr. Omprakash Kulkarni said people are currently buying electric vehicles on an experimental basis as there is no acceptance of the technology by the common man yet. 

As the central government has set an ambitious target of seeing only electric vehicles on Indian roads by the year 2030, it is going out of the way to encourage the usage of electric vehicles. Unlike fossil fuel-run vehicles, electric vehicles are exempted from motor vehicle tax, which is 11-13 per cent for petrol and 13-15 per cent for diesel vehicles.

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