A month after the Odisha cabinet approved the Electric Vehicle policy; the Odisha government has announced a 100 percent exemption on taxes and registration fees on battery-operated electric vehicles in accordance with the Odisha Electric Vehicle Policy, 2021.

The government’s tax exemption move is intended at encouraging more and more people to go for battery-operated vehicles to reduce carbon emissions from petrol and diesel-operated vehicles.

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The State Transport Department issued a notification in this regard on Saturday declaring the tax exemption on electric vehicles.

“The state government in exercise of the powers conferred under the Odisha Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1975, do hereby allow 100 percent exemption of motor vehicles taxes and also registration fees in respect of all types of battery-operated vehicles (electric vehicles) during the policy period, i.e. up to 31, 2025”, stated the notification.

The government will also provide interest subvention in loans, waiving of road tax, and registration fees during the policy period of five years.

As per the policy, the State government will provide a 15 percent subsidy, a maximum of Rs 5,000 for two-wheelers, Rs 10,000 for three-wheelers, and Rs 50,000 for four-wheelers on the base price.

Currently, Odisha has a total fleet of 4,831 electric vehicles (EVs) on road. As the EVs are few and far, the state currently accounts for 18 EV charging stations at present.

To reduce the rapid global temperature, which has been a concern for everyone for the last few decades, it is now necessary to reduce the emissions caused by different categories of vehicles plying on the road using the traditional fossil fuels since they contribute a lot to climate change. It is high time to reduce such emissions by reducing the use of such traditional fuel and accelerating the pace of adoption of electric vehicles, chief secretary Suresh Mohapatra had earlier stated as the government approved the electric vehicle policy.