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India makes a point of not handing any money to people wanting to buy the more expensive EVs, as Forbes News reports. Whether they can produce enough electricity to back up their policy is not clear. The majority of their power supply is from coal, plus some diesel generators.

To encourage the growth of the electric vehicle (EV) industry in India, the government has developed a two-pronged strategy aimed at both buyers and manufacturers: $1.4 billion in subsidies are to be offered, followed by a hike on import tariffs within the next year to spur domestic companies to build the vehicles.

The new policy, which was cleared by the cabinet late last month but the details of which were not available till now, kicks in with the new financial year in April.The scheme promises to lay out $1.4 billion in subsidies over three years for electric buses, three-wheelers, four-wheelers that are registered as commercial vehicles as well as private motorbikes and scooters.

Unlike other countries where the incentives for EVs has been focused on personal vehicles like those produced by Tesla, India, where less than four million cars are sold annually, is instead focusing on its public transport system.

Hence the primary aim of the policy on subsidies for buses and three-wheelers as well as two-wheelers, a hugely popular, and affordable, mode of transport.

While EVs are still a negligible component of the country’s current transport system, several Indian companies, including Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland among others have begun making electric cars, autorickshaws and buses (as well as two-wheelers) that run on lithium-ion batteries.

Subsidies are also available for plug-in hybrids and strong hybrid four-wheelers and will be capped at 40% for buses and 20% for all other vehicles.

Since the cost of batteries is what makes EVs prohibitively expensive for most consumers, the policy offers subsidies based on battery capacity–$140 per  per kilowatt-hour for all vehicles excluding buses. The latter will get a subsidy double that amount.

State governments, too, are expected to offer a combination of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to further encourage the adoption of EVs. Non-fiscal incentives include a waiver or reduction in road taxes, toll tax, parking fees, registration charges, among others.As part of its push to encourage local manufacturing, the government has also laid out a phased manufacturing roadmap. “The intention is to substantially increase value addition and capacity building within the country,” according to a statement from the government.