The State government of Telangana plans to convert traditional auto-rickshaws into Electric-Rikshaws. All those auto-rikshaws that have been on the road for more than ten years and emit significant amounts of pollution into electric vehicles to minimize carbon emissions (EVs) will be processed into the electric auto-rikshaw. Through EV Retrofitting the auto-rikshaw owners can help in minimizing the carbon emission.

Around 5,000 outdated auto-rickshaws, including 500 in Hyderabad alone, would be retrofitted with electric engines as part of Phase 1 of the initiative, according to Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corporation (TSREDC).

Diesel/petrol engines would be replaced with electric engines, and certain modifications would be needed to convert them to EVs.

N Janaiah, Managing Director of TSREDCO, told Express that the company has urged the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) to identify outdated vehicles so that retrofitting may begin as soon as possible.
“There is an urgent need to phase out old vehicles to reduce pollution levels and to shift towards EV mobility,” he said.

Retrofitting an existing auto-rickshaw into an electric vehicle will cost between Rs 75,000 and Rs 90,000. The state will pay a subsidy of Rs 15,000 per car for this, and owners would be responsible for the remaining costs.

The capacity of these auto-rickshaws would range from 4 to 8 kWh. This process is being undertaken as part of Telangana’s Electric Vehicle and Energy Storage Policy (2020-2030), which aims to create a complete ecosystem domestically around EVs, including battery manufacturing and other components, to make the electric vehicle and energy storage solutions sector competitive in the short term.

Apart from that, the government had already announced that the first 20,000 electric three-wheelers and the first 10,000 electric light goods carriers, including three-wheelers, would be exempt from paying road taxes and registration fees.

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