New Delhi, March 31 -- Karnataka's move to impose a tax on electric cars, a year after waiving levies, could slow down adoption in one of India's key electric vehicle (EV) markets by eroding their price competitiveness with petrol and diesel vehicles, industry experts said. The shift comes even as other states continue to offer tax breaks to push EV uptake.

According to a bill passed in the Karnataka assembly last week, a tax in the range of 5-10% of a vehicle's price will be imposed on all EV cars based on their price at the time of registration in the state, which is expected to widen the price gap with less expensive internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.

The move partly negates the state's own clean mobility policy released in 2...