Even as the number of personal vehicles operated on greener technologies is increasing, in line with the Centre’s push for more eco-friendly modes of transport, data from the Union ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) shows that people prefer electric vehicles (EVs) over hybrids, nationally and also in Karnataka, which has the second-highest number of EVs after Maharashtra.
As of February 2023, the country had more than 16.7 lakh green vehicles of which, nearly 10.2 lakh were EVs, more than five lakh petrol-hybrid vehicles and nearly 1.5 lakh diesel-hybrids.
Industry experts point to a variety of factors, including production linked incentive (PLI) schemes and other sops, introduced by the Central and state governments, apart from a general increase in awareness among the public about greener technologies.
A state-wise analysis of data puts Maharashtra on top with 2.9 lakh green vehicles, including 1.9 lakh EVs, followed by Karnataka, with more than 2 lakh (nearly 1.5 lakh being EVs) eco-friendly vehicles, Tamil Nadu, Guja
Karnataka has 50,000 of 5 lakh petrol-hybrids
Data for Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are only partial, given that the states had not completely migrated to MoRTH’s Vahan data system.
A breakup in terms of vehicle types places Karnataka in the second place so far as EVs go, while the state tops the list for petrol-hybrids with 50,472 of the 5 lakh such vehicles across India.
As reported by TOI earlier, the increasing number of EVs in the state is despite Karnataka being among the few big states that hasn’t provided a demand subsidy on EVs. Officials in the industry department, however, feel the benefit of incentives offered by the state for the manufacture of such vehicles must pass on to customers.
Apart from efforts to minimise pollution from petrol and diesel through blending and other initiatives, the Centre has also been pushing for greener vehicles. According to MoRTH, in its bid to promote adoption of hybrids and EVs, the Centre launched the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) Scheme in 2015, the second phase of which is currently operational with a budgetary support of Rs 10,000 crore.
