Telangana: EV industry needs more incentives

The state government will have to dole out more incentives if it intends to attract more investments in the electric vehicle space.

Speaking at the CII 'Make in Telangana' session on ‘Accelerating EV manufacturing in India: Future of Electric Mobility’, Naga Satyam N, executive director, Olectra Greentech Ltd, said the state government giving 20 per cent capital subsidy with a cap of Rs 30 crore is inadequate to capture large-scale manufacturing in the state.

He also said with EV manufacturers coming in the state, many ancillary units too will be set up and the government must try to ensure that the both the anchor as well as ancillary units also come up beyond Hyderabad.

He said Olectra Greentech Ltd has charted out a three-phase plan for electric bus manufacturing and plans to acquire 300-acre land for setting up its greenfield project. In the first phase, it will be spending Rs 200 crore, in the second phase, it plans to invest Rs 175 crore and Rs 250 crore in third phase.

“At present, we have a manufacturing capacity to manufacture 4-5 electric buses per day and by the end of phase-3, we intend to do 16 buses per day,” he said, adding that the three phases will span over five years.

Sandeep Paidi, partner, KPMG, too added that the EV sector has been hit by the pandemic and the manufacturers are operating at reduced capacities. He added that in the meantime, the government can not only push R&D activities but also create infrastructure for EV.