Hyderabad, 24 March (H.S.): Telangana Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar today announced a new initiative to encourage electric vehicle adoption among state government employees, describing it as the first instance of a state government negotiating direct purchase discounts with EV manufacturers for its workforce.

Under the initiative, government employees may receive discounts of up to 20 percent on select electric two-wheelers and four-wheelers. Officials said the scheme could potentially benefit more than five lakh government employees across the state.

According to the Transport Department, the concessions have been facilitated through discussions with manufacturers including Mahindra Electric, Ola Electric, Gravton Motors and Ather Energy as part of an institutional arrangement to encourage EV adoption.

The Minister said the initiative was intended to move beyond policy incentives and make electric mobility financially more accessible for government employees, who could act as early adopters of clean transport.

Officials clarified that the negotiated discounts do not involve direct budgetary subsidy and are based on price support offered by manufacturers.

The announcement comes in continuation of earlier measures introduced by the state government to promote electric vehicles, including exemption from road tax and registration fees for EVs across multiple vehicle categories.

The government has also directed departments to gradually move towards electric vehicles for official use as part of efforts to promote sustainable mobility. Officials said even hired vehicles used for government purposes in urban areas may increasingly shift towards electric options.

Transport department officials said Telangana already operates more than 2,800 electric buses as part of its public transport system and is continuing to expand EV adoption as part of efforts to reduce vehicular pollution.

The Minister also said charging infrastructure would be expanded across government offices and public spaces to support EV users and address concerns related to charging access.

Officials said the initiative forms part of Telangana’s broader policy focus on clean mobility and reducing dependence on fossil fuel-based transport.

Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar