New Delhi: Electric vehicle (EV) incentives are catching on as a new perk at companies such as Vedanta, Larsen & Toubro and MakeMyTrip. They have drafted fresh policies providing incentives for the purchase of EVs and are setting up charging stations on campus. L&T is also considering EV fleets for material transportation.
Corporates are looking to attain sustainability goals while keeping employees engaged in the journey, executives of these companies and experts told ET.
Such policies are more likely at organisations with a high environmental, social and governance (ESG) focus and those perceived to have “mature” HR practices, according to a Deloitte India study on benefits. The findings of the report, based on a survey that ended in March, were shared exclusively with ET.
Companies are examining operations from the ESG aspect to align themselves with India’s overall target of attaining net-zero emissions by 2070. Some are setting earlier deadlines than that.
“While the prevalence of such incentives is still low – under 15% – we are seeing an increasing trend of organisations providing incentives for EVs as part of their company car policy, over and above the sops provided by the government,” said Neelesh Gupta, director, Deloitte. The key reason for incentives is bridging the price gap between vehicles powered by internal combustion engines (ICE) and EVs, Gupta said. EVs typically cost 30% more, he said.
Vedanta recently extended policy benefits to all employees with incentives ranging from 30% to 50% for various grades for the purchase of two- and four-wheeled EVs. “This is a one-of-its-kind initiative and further exemplifies Vedanta’s focus towards positive impact,” said chief human resource officer Madhu Srivastava.
Reducing Carbon Footprint
“At Vedanta, sustainability is one of our core values and underlines all that we do. We have made a commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner.”
L&T has a target of becoming carbon-neutral by 2040. “The granular targets are also built into the Lakshya-26 strategy plan. Towards this, adopting EVs in its campuses, offices and project sites is one among many initiatives currently under implementation or in discussion stage,” said Pradeep Panigrahi, head, sustainability. “Discussion and viability studies are ongoing to have an EV fleet for material transport and EV earth-moving equipment at sites.”
L&T campuses in Powai, Chennai and Vadodara have EV charging facilities.
Online travel company MakeMytrip recently launched a policy to motivate employees to purchase electric four-wheelers. “The policy reimburses the vehicle’s first-year insurance cost of up to Rs 1 lakh,” said Yuvaraj Srivastava, group chief human resource officer, MakeMyTrip.
“On the employee front, we have also attempted to encourage behaviour that helps offset, reduce the carbon footprint,” said Srivastava. MMT plants five trees in the name of every new recruit. “We then share a certificate with them with details of the type of trees, where they have been planted, and a nudge to make gifting a tree a habit.”
