The State Government of Goa has announced a new rule for rental cars and bikes. According to the proposed rules, all rental vehicles are expected to be powered by only electric powertrains from January 2024. Furthermore, the existing fleet of rental vehicles are expected to be retrofitted with electric motors by June 2024.
At the recent G20 summit in Goa, the Chief Minister revealed the new measures. According to him, the state government is working to make the state transport environment-friendly. To this end, it was said that as Goa is a tourist state, around 40 percent of all carbon emissions in the state is contributed by the tourism related traffic on the road.
To curb this, a new EV policy was revealed. Under this, all new tourist vehicles, cab and bike rentals shall be EVs starting from January 2024. Further, all the government produced light motor vehicles (LMVs) will also be electric from the same date.
Permit holders operating a fleet of rental or tourist taxi vehicles in Goa will need to retrofit 30 percent of their fleets with electric powertrain by June 2024. Permit holders include tourist taxis, rent a bike and rent a cab operators.
Currently, EVs are not very popular in Goa. While there are charging stations in major towns, the infrastructure is found lacking in the interiors. Goa has set an ambitious goal of having 30 percent of all the vehicles registered in the state to be electric by 2025. To achieve this, there is a big task ahead.
While enforcement and new rules are just one of the ways to achieve this milestone, a wider adoption will need much more work. Furthermore, the central government has recently reduced the FAME II subsidy amount which is expected to dampen the mood of EV buyers not just across Goa, but the entire country.
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