CHENNAI: Electric cars sold in Maharashtra will not be taxed henceforth. A formal announcement to this effect will be made soon, said Union power minister Piyush Goyal.

The state will not levy value added tax, road tax and registration charges on electric vehicles sold in the state.

The minister was speaking to journalists at the Mahindra World City here on the sidelines of the inauguration of a bio-mass plant using waste food.

"Currently electric cars are subject to VAT, road tax and registration charges. I spoke to state chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and suggested waiver of all types of taxes on electric cars and he has agreed," Goyal told TOI.

Asked why the same could not be implemented in other states, the minister said being a federal country, it could not be imposed on states.

"We will ask BJP-ruled states to waive tax for electric cars but with other states the proposal should come from interested states," said Goyal.

Mahindra's Reva is the only electric four-wheeler being manufactured in the country. There are a few companies, which produce e-two-wheelers.

"We are selling around 8 to 10 electric cars in Mumbai and other districts of Maharashtra. Across the country, the company sells 75 Reva cars a month. We can ramp up production of electric cars to 2,500 a month," said Mahindra and Mahindra executive director Pawan Goenka.

The company sells the maximum number of e-cars a month in Bengaluru followed by Delhi and Mumbai, he said. "The car currently costs Rs 5 lakh but the price will differ from each city. Tax waiver by Maharashtra is a boost for e-cars," said Goenka.

Soon petrol bunks in the country will also have chargers for electric cars. "This will help cars on the move to get charged. If entrepreneurs are forthcoming, e-charging stations can be a separate unit which will further reduce pollution," said Goyal.

Mahindra is also planning to launch electric versions of its sedan and light commercial vehicles by February 2016 in order to expand its electric vehicle portfolio. The company is even testing its e-LCV under real life conditions by using it in Agra to ferry visitors around the Taj Mahal.

Times View

The idea of exempting electric vehicles from taxes is one that this newspaper has put forward in the past as a means of reducing emissions. It is welcome news that Maharashtra and other BJP-ruled states are to implement this idea. But it would be better still if all states were to give such concessions. The impact on their revenues cannot be huge in any case. But even if it is sizeable, the revenue sacrificed should be treated as money saved on cleaning up the air. Hybrid vehicles too should be given tax breaks to minimise the use of fossil fuels.

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