The Goa government announced that all new rental cars and bikes must be electric from January 2024. The government also stated that all existing fleet vehicles must be retrofitted with electric powertrains by June 2024.
- All government LMVs will be EVs from January 2024
- Government hopes EVs contribute 30 percent of sales by 2025
Goa government EV announcement
Speaking at the Energy Transitions Working Group Meeting during the G20 summit in Goa, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant outlined the new measures that the government would undertake to make the state transport environment-friendly. He said that as Goa is mainly dependent on tourism, there is a lot of traffic on the road, which, according to a recent study, contributes to 40 per cent of the total carbon emissions in the state.
In a statement, he said, "All new tourist vehicles, cab and bike rentals shall be EVs from January 2024, while new government light motor vehicles (LMVs) purchased from January 2024 will mandatorily be EVs. It will also be mandatory for permit holders having multiple tourist taxis, rent-a-bike and rent-a-cab operators to retrofit 30 percent of the fleet to EV by June 2024.”
The bigger picture
While the move seems like a step in the right direction, Goa currently lacks the infrastructure for this. The electric vehicle charging grid across the state is not as dense when compared to metropolitan cities and larger towns. The chargers are clustered around the city hubs, but become sparse as you move away from them. Power cuts too are frequent in the state and the possibility of an uninterrupted power supply is a while away.
We spoke to Nathan Viegas of Joey’s Car Rentals in Goa who mentioned that there was no official notice from the government regarding the announcement, neither for the mandatory new EV purchase nor for the retrofitting of 30 percent of the taxi fleet.
Speaking to Autocar India he said, “Currently, we have a fleet of 100+ vehicles (taxis/rent a cab) and a majority of them are relatively new and still on loan. Switching to electric vehicles within the given time frame puts considerable pressure on our finances and operational logistics.”
He also threw light on the current progress of Goa’s EV infrastructure. “The current lack of EV infrastructure across all parts of Goa will restrict our customers' range of movement and hinder their ability to explore the state fully. The EV model works for transport services like buses because they have a fixed daily route. As taxi operators, we cater to tourists, corporates and events, who do not have a fixed daily route. A more extended and structured timeline, coupled with financial aid and improved infrastructure in terms of fast charging stations across the state, would greatly benefit taxi owners and car rental companies.”
However, according to the chief minister of Goa, the state has been accepting of EVs. Sawant stated that since the introduction of EV concessions in 2021, the state saw an increase in EV ownership from 0.2 percent to 9.4 percent. However, the minister did not mention a time period for this statistic, but added that the aim of the policy was to ensure that by 2025, at least 30 percent of all vehicles registered annually would be EVs.
While the central government has recently cut the FAME II subsidy across the country, the Goa government is planning to introduce its own set of subsidies.
Hormazd Sorabjee
Anurag Chaturvedi
