Odisha, which is currently redrawing its Electric Vehicle (EV) policy, needs to come up with a template that accounts for various requirements, rather than taking a uniform approach, experts have told Down To Earth (DTE).
Odisha introduced its first dedicated EV policy on September 1, 2021. The policy was approved for four years, and its original period ended in 2025. The existing policy continues under extensions, while Odisha has framed the Draft Odisha Electric Vehicle Policy, 2025 (EV 2.0) for stakeholder and public consultation. It has not yet been formally notified as the final policy.
According to experts, the state must take into account differences in terrain, travel patterns, vehicle use and infrastructure in both its rural as well as urban areas.
Meanwhile, the state’s EV transition faces a formidable challenge in the form of pollution with air pollution worsening in several of Odisha’s major cities over the past eight years.
Annual PM10 concentrations have risen in several of Odisha’s major cities since the financial year 2017-18 (FY18), while winter PM2.5 levels remain high. According to continuous ambient air quality monitoring station data from the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB), annual average PM10 in FY26 was 114 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m³) in Angul, 105 µg/m³ in Cuttack, 92 µg/m³ in Bhubaneswar and 120 µg/m³ in Talcher.
Compared with FY18, when annual PM10 was 97 µg/m³ in Angul, 93 µg/m³ in Cuttack, 85 µg/m³ in Bhubaneswar and 113 µg/m³ in Talcher, concentrations increased by 17.5 per cent, 12.9 per cent, 8.2 per cent and 6.2 per cent, respectively. The FY18 figures are from data cited in the minutes of the Seventeenth Meeting of the Implementation Committee for the National Clean Air Programme.
The trend was not uniform across the state. Kalinganagar’s annual PM10 concentration declined from 109 µg/m³ in FY18 to 101 µg/m³ in FY24, while Talcher remained at 113 µg/m³ over the same period, according to Central Pollution Control Board data cited in a Lok Sabha document.
Winter pollution has substantially been higher. Between November 2025 and February 2026, average PM10 reached 217 µg/m³ in Talcher, 186 µg/m³ in Cuttack, 179 µg/m³ in Angul and 171 µg/m³ in Bhubaneswar, according to OSPCB data. Average winter PM2.5 was 101 µg/m³ in Talcher, 97 µg/m³ in Angul and Balasore, 93 µg/m³ in Cuttack and 92 µg/m³ in Bhubaneswar, more than twice the national annual standard of 40 µg/m³.
PM10 refers to particulate matter 10 micrometres or smaller, while PM2.5 refers to finer particles 2.5 micrometres or smaller that can penetrate deeper into the lungs, making both important indicators of air pollution exposure.
The data underline the difficulty of attributing pollution to a single source. Vehicular emissions are an important contributor, particularly in urban areas, but industrial emissions, dust, waste and biomass burning, and pollution transported from outside the state also affect air quality.
Dilip Dash, senior environmental engineer at OSPCB, said vehicular pollution was “definitely one of the biggest factors”, but not the sole or primary source of pollution in Bhubaneswar. “One is vehicular. Another is waste burning,” Dash told DTE in Bhubaneswar in July 2026.
In Bhubaneswar, a winter source-apportionment study by the Automotive Research Association of India and OSPCB found that solid waste and biomass combustion accounted for 37.6 per cent of PM2.5, followed by transport at 30.7 per cent, secondary aerosols at 12.3 per cent and dust at 10.5 per cent. Transport’s contribution to winter PM10 was 18.6 per cent.
Bhubaneswar’s pollution is particularly pronounced during winter. Dash said the city’s annual average PM10 concentration was about 92 µg/m³ in FY26, while the November-February winter average was about 171 µg/m³. He said Bhubaneswar’s pollution level exceeded Delhi’s on eight days during the 120-day winter period in FY26.
“If you see the AQI (air quality index), in winter, it is mostly PM2.5. That means it is not dust; it is smoke. Combustion from vehicles and waste burning are among the sources of the smoke,” Dash said.
The pollution problem is not confined to urban centres. According to an analysis by India Air Quality & Energy Insights, based on annual PM2.5 estimates from the Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group, Washington University in St. Louis, and Survey of India’s village-level boundary data, rural PM2.5 in Odisha exceeded India’s annual National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 40 µg/m³ in 2023. The analysis, which examines annual PM2.5 estimates from 2014 to 2023, found that Odisha was among the states where rural PM2.5 exceeded the standard, with the urban-rural difference in concentrations below 10 per cent.
Even as pollution rises due to vehicles and biomass burning across Odisha’s urban and rural areas, the state will have to adopt different strategies to speed up its EV transition in both cities as well as villages, Pawan Mulukutla, executive director of Integrated Transport, Electric Mobility, Clean Air & Hydrogen at WRI India, told DTE.
“Urban and rural mobility will be different,” Mulukutla said, noting that while urban EV planning will involve electric cars, city buses and charging infrastructure, smaller towns and rural areas have different requirements. He said electric three-wheelers were already becoming visible in smaller towns in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, partly because fuel stations can be far away, while electricity availability in rural India has improved.
The economics of e-mobility could also be attractive for rural users because of lower operating and maintenance costs. Financing, however, remains a significant consideration, particularly for commercial users, Mulukutla said, adding that EV financing needs to account for the high interest rates faced by many small commercial operators, including auto-rickshaw drivers, with some loans carrying interest rates of 17-20 per cent.
“We really also need to see how EVs can be used for livelihood and also ensuring that it doesn’t get impacted because of power interruptions,” he said.
“There are different terrains and different requirements (across Odisha). Basically, there are different requirements. And to meet different requirements, you need different factors,” said Mulukutla.
Charging infrastructure in rural areas will also need to evolve differently, according to Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of research and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi. While rural EV use will rely more on home-based charging, highway electrification will create another charging ecosystem as e-buses, trucks and other commercial vehicles increasingly use routes cutting across rural areas. “The highways will be running across, cutting across the rural landscape,” she said.
Mulukutla also suggested integrating EV deployment with decentralised renewable energy and mini-grids in areas where electricity supply is less reliable. “As they are revising the EV policy, how does it go hand in hand with the energy policy?” he asked, suggesting that renewable energy systems and storage could also be used to charge EVs.
“Can we really look at some pockets, some of these approaches which connect livelihoods, integration of renewables, and EV deployment?” Mulukutla asked, suggesting these things have to be considered together.”
Even as the state awaits for a new EV policy, Tapan Kumar Mishra, joint director, commerce and transport department, told DTE that the need for revision arose because electric mobility had evolved considerably since the original policy was formulated.
Kaushik Deb, executive director, Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC India), told DTE the 2021 policy was “an important and progressive first step in creating an enabling environment for EV adoption”. While the 20 per cent target was ambitious, he said the next phase should focus on making the wider EV ecosystem work better, including through commercial vehicles, research and innovation, and skill development.
Under the existing policy, the state provides purchase incentives for different vehicle categories and has offered a 100 per cent exemption from motor vehicle tax and registration fees for eligible EVs.
For two-wheelers, the current purchase incentive is Rs 5,000 per kWh of battery capacity, capped at Rs 20,000. Three-wheelers receive a flat Rs 30,000 incentive. Goods carriages receive Rs 30,000 for the first 5,000 units, while electric light motor vehicles receive Rs 10,000 per kWh, capped at Rs 1.5 lakh. The bus incentive ranges from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 4 lakh, depending on the category.
Odisha is considering changes to subsidies and motor vehicle tax. “What we are thinking is to rationalise subsidies and MV (motor vehicle) tax,” NBS Rajput, principal secretary, commerce and transport department, told DTE in Bhubaneswar.
The state is also considering a graded tax concession rather than the existing flat exemption. Rajput said the change is linked to the revenue implications of higher EV registrations.
“The higher the EV registration, the less is revenue realisation because of forfeiture of the one-time tax and MV tax. So, we are revising that,” he said.
The proposed approach also includes support for charging-point operators. Rajput said the state plans to provide land at nominal rates for charging stations along highways, key urban locations and tourist destinations, with private operators making the investment and operating the stations on a pay-per-use basis.
The revised policy is also expected to address the supply side of the EV ecosystem, including renewable energy and charging infrastructure. Mishra said it will focus “not just offering purchase incentives, rather controlling the supply side as well” and creating a supply ecosystem based on renewable energy and charging infrastructure.
The transition so far has been stronger among smaller vehicles than cars and commercial vehicles. Roychowdhury said the early transition in Bhubaneswar mirrors the wider national pattern.
“Two-wheeler and auto electrification has started like the rest of India. These are the small vehicles where we have seen the early changes.” Electrification of larger vehicles has been slower. “But now we have to move towards the bigger vehicles, and for that, you need regulated interventions, targets, mandates, infrastructure, all of that together, charging infrastructure,” Roychowdhury said.
Deb said Odisha should prioritise vehicle segments based on their usage and emissions rather than simply increasing EV registrations. “If the objective is to maximise climate and air quality benefits,” he said, “Odisha could prioritise vehicle segments” with high utilisation and emissions. Buses, commercial three-wheelers and urban freight vehicles could therefore deliver larger reductions in fuel consumption and tailpipe emissions.
Heavy-duty trucks also warrant targeted interventions, particularly along high-traffic freight corridors and industrial routes, Deb said. Although trucks account for around 3 per cent of India’s vehicle fleet, they account for about 35-40 per cent of transport carbon dioxide emissions and more than half of transport-related particulate emissions.
For commercial users, charging availability and vehicle range remain important. Roychowdhury said newer e-cars have sufficient range for normal urban travel, but “What you require is charging support,” she said. For private cars, home charging can provide most of the required energy, while public charging would primarily be used for top-ups. She also called for buildings to be made “charging ready” and public charging infrastructure to be expanded, while noting that charging operators face a demand problem because investment depends on whether enough EVs are already on the road.
Mulukutla said battery swapping could be a practical option for two-wheelers, three-wheelers and light commercial vehicles in areas where conventional charging infrastructure is difficult to establish.
“Battery swapping is very much possible. It’s quite easy actually,” he said. Instead of investing in extensive charging infrastructure, including transformers and grid connections, policymakers could support a supply chain for batteries and battery-as-a-service models.
“You need to actually create a good supply chain of batteries, the battery as a service model, startups, companies to be set up. And then that is where the policy could also really reinforce,” Mulukutla said.
The biggest shift towards e-mobility in Odisha’s public transport system has been in Bhubaneswar and the surrounding urban region. The Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT) has already electrified more than half of its urban bus fleet, with the share expected to cross 70 per cent after the next tranche of buses is inducted, according to CRUT managing director Sadique Alam.
Alam told DTE that around 800 buses are currently in operation and another 600 have been sanctioned, including 100 under the PM-eBus Sewa scheme and 200 from the state.
“After this injection, our EV percentage will go to more than 70%,” he said, adding that the remaining diesel buses are expected to be phased out by 2030.
The state is also developing charging infrastructure and has planned 100 EV charging stations through a public-private partnership, with the state providing land and private operators establishing the infrastructure. Alam said Odisha is also creating charging infrastructure at the block level.
The state government has also decided that vehicles procured by departments will be electric and that Odisha State Road Transport Corporation is engaging 100 e-buses, Rajput informed.
For rural transport, however, the transition is slower. Mishra said the state does not currently have e-buses operating under the rural Mukhyamantri Bus Seva system because buses have been contracted under long-term arrangements.
“We do not have e-buses in rural areas right now. So, we have this long-term contract for 12 years. So, we cannot really replace them now. So, it will take time,” he said.
Roychowdhury said Bhubaneswar’s experience is notable because the public transport system was developed before its electrification. The city has simultaneously expanded bus services, improved passenger information systems and introduced electric feeder services connecting neighbourhoods to bus stops.
“This is the most systematic approach to building public transport, accessibility and then e-mobility,” she said. “Combining electrification with better public transport services can make the system more attractive to users. You are combining electric, which is helping to make your vehicles tailpipe emission-free, and at the same time, improving the level of service for the public transport user.”
The public transport transition is substantially less advanced in the private bus sector. Mishra said the state has not yet completed an assessment of how the EV policy has affected pollution, congestion or private buses.
An independent evaluation of the existing policy has been commissioned. No private bus had been electrified under the existing arrangement, and the e-buses currently operating are state-run AMA buses. The EV 2.0 policy plans to bring private buses under the electrification ambit, Mishra said.
Odisha has also sought to reduce emissions from conventional vehicles through cleaner fuels and tighter vehicle emission standards. But cleaner combustion does not eliminate tailpipe emissions, while the number of vehicles on the road continues to grow.
The state had already moved to Bharat Stage VI vehicles, Dash said, noting that newer standards reduce vehicular emissions. But he also pointed to the continuing presence of older vehicles.
“If that vehicle is there, then vehicular emission is definitely less, let’s assume. But, before that, BS-2, BS-3 vehicle which is there are contributing.”
CNG can reduce emissions compared with some conventional fuels, but it remains an internal-combustion technology. The continued growth in the vehicle fleet means that reducing emissions per vehicle does not necessarily remove the pressure created by increasing vehicle use.
The state’s pollution-control officials do not attribute Odisha’s air pollution entirely to vehicles. Dash said the state has taken two measures specifically addressing vehicle-related pollution: the EV policy and electrification of the city bus system. “One is the EV policy, which is increasing. Second is our city bus service,” he said.
But he also said higher PM10 levels cannot automatically be attributed to dust alone, and that winter pollution is associated with smoke.
“When PM10 increases, not necessarily PM2.5 increases, but if PM2.5 increases, necessarily PM10 also increases. So, when we get a higher PM10, we cannot say that it is due to only dust. In winter, the issue is smoke,” Dash said.
Mulukutla said addressing air pollution requires a multi-sector approach based on source apportionment and monitoring. “First you need to do emission assessment, source apportionment, then you have to tackle it sectorally.”
This will include measures for construction, open burning and transport, as well as action against specific pollution sources such as marble-cutting units, bakeries and other businesses and industries.
“We need to really know the dispersion, source and really start looking at this very carefully,” he said. The effectiveness of measures also needs to be monitored continuously to determine whether they are actually reducing pollution.
For air pollution exposure, the location of emissions also matters. Roychowdhury said vehicular emissions are of particular concern because of people’s proximity to traffic.
“Exposure means because vehicles emit very close to our nose. When we are on the road, we live close to the roadside. Now, that means that your toxic exposure to the tailpipe emissions is very high, and when you are caught in congestion, these are very high,” she said.
“That’s why zero-emission transition becomes so important that you just have to eliminate the smoke and the fume within a certain radius of your nose,” Roychowdhury said.
Roychowdhury said incentives alone may not be sufficient to achieve rapid electrification across vehicle categories. “You give an incentive to the consumer to buy an EV, but at the same time, you really have to give very clear targets and mandate for procurement, for sales, and so that the market picks up and you actually begin to see the massive scaling and electrification.”
Mulukutla similarly said EV policy should be designed considering vehicle segments, financing, charging or battery-swapping infrastructure, renewable-energy integration and the ability of users to sustain the cost of ownership.
The existing policy has been extended beyond its original December 31, 2025, expiry, with the latest extension running until September 2026. An independent evaluation is also underway.
The pollution data provide the backdrop to the policy revision. Annual PM10 rose 17.5 per cent in Angul, 12.9 per cent in Cuttack and 8.2 per cent in Bhubaneswar between FY18 and FY26, while transport accounted for 30.7 per cent of winter PM2.5 in Bhubaneswar.
Roychowdhury said the focus now needs to extend across vehicle categories and be accompanied by infrastructure and regulatory measures. “Two-wheeler and three-wheeler electrification has started,” she said. “Now we have to move towards the bigger vehicles, and for that, you need regulated interventions, targets, mandates, infrastructure, all of that together, charging infrastructure.”