Budget 2022: Here are four key demands of EV charging sector

The future of mobility has the electric vehicle (EV) segment as its most important stakeholder. The sector can transform mobility, boost sustainable development, and strengthen the Indian economy. 

For enabling EV adoption, manufacturing plants and charging infrastructure have received much focus to counter various anxieties amongst customers pertaining to EVs.  
 
With Budget 2022 being around the corner, the EV ecosystem is expecting further government support for sectoral growth. 

Some players are looking for tax relaxations while some are counting on better policies to boost the transition towards clean mobility. Budgetary allocations and constructive policymaking for EVs and allied infrastructure will definitely power the electric vehicle space in 2022.  
 
Budget Expectations 2022  

The recently announced policies by the government to strengthen the charging infrastructure will push e-mobility in India. It will help develop grid connectivity and ease out the installation of public charging infrastructure. But the segment needs a stronger push. Further support to the sector for enabling the creation of charging infrastructure by private companies will enable large scale adoption of EVs.  
 
The designing cost of designing and installing charging infrastructure is capital intensive. For the sector, the first priority is to minimise capital cost as much as possible. While facilitating grid connectivity is the right step for ease of setting up charging infrastructure, it is important for the sector that the government subsidises electrical connections and fixed load charges of EV charging point operators.  

Also Read: Budget 2022: Multiple trade-offs in fiscal objectives must be balanced
 
Tax Relaxation: The government has promoted charging stations by capping the GST to 5% on the sale of charging stations but the using charging infrastructure has a GST of 18%. Considering a lot of individuals use these charging stations and they do not have input tax credit, the government has to change this GST to 0%, similar to the sale of electricity. 
 
Making low-cost renewable energy available: Shifting from high-cost fossil fuel-based power generation to low-cost renewable energy will help EV mobility to become really sustainable. Increasing the supply of RE electricity will minimise the operational cost, which can be done by supporting solutions such as open access for solar power. 
 
Revenue generation: EV charging infrastructure installation is capital intensive. Various steps can be taken to make the sector more profitable such as increasing promotion, implementing smart charging services, and network interoperability can be explored to reduce latency, enhance revenues and cut costs.  
 
Make charging stations a part of green building: India is focusing on green buildings and smart cities. It is important that the green real estate projects and existing real estate such as industrial, commercial, and residential complexes have the adequate charging infrastructure, which will boost sectoral growth and create avenues for generating revenue for the industry. 
 
(The author is CEO & Co-Founder, EVRE.) 

Check out our complete coverage of Budget 2022 here