For EV , Andhra gets an A

Economic Times ( 26 Dec ) carries following news :

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/auto/news/industry/andhra-pradesh-plans-sops-to-pull-in-rs-30000-crore-investment-in-electric-vehicles-industry/articleshow/62247503.cms

“ Andhra Plans Sops to Pull in Rs 30,000 CR Investment in Electric Vehicle Industry “

Summary of Incentives offered :

·         Capital subsidies to Automakers and Charging Equipment manufacturers

·         Fast government approvals

·         Concessional land and power

·         Complete state GST reimbursements

·         Special incentives for Battery manufacturing to draw investments

·         Waiving of registration and road tax on the sale of Electric Vehicles

·         Tendering three-wheeler fleet licences to companies

·         Imposing additional taxes on Petrol / Diesel Vehicles

·         Introducing promotional Schemes for women and consumers from vulnerable backgrounds for two-wheeler purchase

·         Setting up an Electric Vehicle Park with plug-and-play infrastructure for manufacturing units to start production

·         All cities of the State to come up with an Electric Mobility Blueprint

·         Convert the entire government fleet to Electric and shift the complete bus fleet to Battery operated vehicles by 2030

·         Support to other shared-mobility vehicles for conversion to e-fleet

·         Invite tenders for procuring Electric Vehicles through EESL

·         Provide capital subsidy and SGST exemptions for charging infrastructure installations

·         Land to be made available at concessional rates to Charging Stations and Battery-Swapping Kiosks

·         Bus Terminals, Bus Stops , Government Offices and Public Parkings , will compulsorily have charging stations and swapping stations

·         Time bound permissions for setting-up charging infrastructure

Such a comprehensive policy can only be expected from a visionary like Chief Minister , Shri Chandra Babu Naidu , who turned Hyderabad , into “ Indian Silicon Valley “ , a few decades ago !

Those who have any doubts about Shri Naidu’s vision, may want to look up :

https://qz.com/1157941/google-x-will-use-light-beams-to-bring-the-internet-to-12-million-households-in-indias-andhra-pradesh-state/

The “moonshot factory” of Alphabet, the tech giant that owns Google, is bringing a wireless internet technology it tested in the stratosphere to connect rural areas in India’s Andhra Pradesh state.

X, as the company is known, is using Free Space Optical Communications (FSOC) to connect far-flung regions of the state.

It involves using beams of light to deliver high-speed, high-capacity connectivity over long distances.

X has set up some 2,000 FSOC links in partnership with Andhra Pradesh’s telecom company, AP State FiberNet, as part of the state’s plan to bring broadband connectivity to 12 million households and thousands of government offices and private enterprises.

“These FSOC links will form part of the high-bandwidth backbone of their network, giving them a cost effective way to connect rural and remote areas across the state,” Baris Erkmen, the FSOC Lead at X, wrote in a blog post on Thursday, Dec. 14.

A small group of Google engineers and experts will work out of Andhra Pradesh to help roll out the project in 2018.

26  Dec  2017

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs