The Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) has appealed to the State Government to bring electric two-wheelers under the Amma Scheme where 50 per cent subsidy is provided for purchase of vehicles.

Former chief minister Jayalalithaa had announced the scheme a year ago and subsidy was given to petrol-run two wheelers. Since electric two-wheelers reduce carbon footprint, the Government should encourage these vehicles and include them in the scheme, SMEV South chapter head Hemalatha Annamalai told the media here.

Tamil Nadu was the first to offer battery-operated three-wheelers to the differently abled between 2010 and 2012, Hemalatha said, adding that this was changed later to bring in polluting petrol vehicles.

The Government should promote green technology and reverse it policy to include electric vehicles under the scheme. This would benefit a large number of women, particularly those in the rural areas, she said.

Besides zero fuel cost, these vehicles help save 1,364 litres of petrol over a period of five years, running an average 50 km daily, she added.

“Inclusion of electric scooters under the Amma scheme will benefit one lakh women in the state get subsidy of 50 per cent of the cost of a two-wheeler, at a maximum of Rs 20,000,” Hemalatha said. An amount of Rs 200 crore has already been allocated for implementation of scheme this year.

The Centre had come out with a scheme under National Electric Mobility Mission Plan by which it wanted six to seven million electric vehicles on the roads by 2020. Though the number of manufacturers of such vehicle in the country was 14, it was possible to render all support to meet the target, she said.