Two EV dealers have been given 90 days by the BTA to complete the unfulfilled orders for 34 of the 300 EVs that were supposed to be delivered by September 2021. Launched in 2018, the project’s goal was to swap out 300 fuel-powered taxis for electric vehicles by September 2021. Taxi operators who had previously applied for the subsidy but were not given a vehicle or who bought an EV on their own without getting the subsidy were requested to come to the BTA headquarters. In a pilot project supported by the Global Environment Facility, the Bhutanese government has identified 34 EVs that have not yet been delivered. The initiative had a USD 5,500 maximum and provided a 20% EV cost subsidy.
The government has recently reopened the project, uncovering irregularities in BCTA data. The ultimate objective is to guarantee that 300 EVs are on the road, and the government has established a task team to look into the matter. The Global Environment Facility provided USD 2.63 million in funding for the project, according to the Terminal Evaluation Report. In co-finance, the Bhutanese government went above and beyond its initial pledge of USD 10.31 million, increasing the total to USD 21.99 million. Along with additional funding from agencies and loans from the Bank of Bhutan, the monies were utilized for charging station construction, human resource assistance, capacity building, and subsidies.