Telangana has finalised its electric vehicle policy and plans to announce it once the period of model code of conduct for the General Elections ends.

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Jayesh Ranjan, State Principal Secretary, Industries, IT and Commerce, said “The state electric vehicle policy, aimed at promoting electric mobility, including creation of related infrastructure, is now ready and will be announced after the model code period ends.”

The policy will seek to address various issues from a State perspective and complement the Central Government initiatives, including the recently announced FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacture of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicles) II scheme that encourages electric mobility, he said.

Speaking after flagging off 50 electric vehicles in Hyderabad deployed by Uber in partnership with Mahindra Electric, Jayesh Ranjan said Hyderabad and Telangana will create an environment that will encourage electric vehicles and related infrastructure and aid the growth of EVs. Already Hyderabad has more than 30 functional charging stations, which is the highest in any city in the country. This was possible as several firms have come forward to set up such stations. These include Fortum, Powergrid, Indian Oil among others.

Few months ago, the Telangana State Electricity Regulatory Commission created as separate category of electricity consumers in the form of EV Charging Stations by providing separate tariff structure. The Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited too in partnership with various private players has encouraged setting up of charging stations. If it goes as per plans most of the metro stations will soon have EV charging stations, apart from key locations in the city, airport, busy stations, he said.

Referring to the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation, he said that more than 40 electric buses have been deployed in its feet and are running regularly. This is amongst the biggest such EV bus fleets in the country. There are plans to increase the number and deploy then on more routes, he said. The State had last year finalised its EV policy but at the last moment decided to announce after the Centre’s announcement of the FAME II scheme.