State Keen On Pay-By-Use Electric Auto Conversion
To overcome this roadblock, the government is in talks with some companies that are willing to bear the conversion costs initially and recovery of their investment in the form of a daily subscription fee from the vehicle owners.
Hyderabad: In an attempt to reduce pollution, the government is working on a pay-as-you-go subscription model that will allow the conversion of fossil fuel run auto rickshaws into electric vehicles without burdening the vehicle owners with the conversion costs.
In phase one, the government aims to convert around 25,000 diesel and petrol auto rickshaws which are registered and operating inside Hyderabad into electric vehicles. If the plan is successful, it could be extended to similar vehicles which are registered in areas outside the Outer Ring Road but are operating within the ORR limits.
The total number of auto rickshaws that ply in the city within the ORR limits each day is 1.5 lakh. Of these, around 30,000 are estimated to be diesel-powered.
Though the government encouraged auto rickshaw owners to convert their vehicles to electric, the result was not as expected. However, some people got their vehicles converted into LPG or CNG. The conversion cost per vehicle is between `1 lakh and `5 lakh, which will have to be borne by the vehicle owner.
“Due to higher upfront cost, there have been practically no takers for the conversion except for a few who came forward to convert their vehicles into either LPG or CNG fuelled ones. The proposed plan addresses these concerns and the government will likely be taking a decision on this soon,” the official said.
To overcome this roadblock, the government is in talks with some companies that are willing to bear the conversion costs initially and recovery of their investment in the form of a daily subscription fee from the vehicle owners.
“The idea is to have a not too burdening daily subscription fee system. The company will get the vehicle converted and install a charging port at the auto rickshaw owner’s residence.
Each day, the vehicle owner will need to pay a certain amount, primarily based on the power consumed to charge the vehicle. “This will eliminate the upfront cost and estimates show that the daily subscription cost will be around their average daily fuel spend, and the company will recover its costs in this manner,” the official explained.
Out of 65,000 new auto rickshaws allowed in Hyderabad in July 2025, 20,000 were allocated for electric powered variants, 10,000 each for LPG and CNG fuelled vehicles and 25,000 vehicles were powered by traditional fuels.