Hyderabad, March 24 -- Telangana Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar on Tuesday announced the country's first state-negotiated electric vehicle (EV) discount initiative to offer a rebate of up to 20 per cent on electric two-and four-wheelers for government employees.

After multiple rounds of negotiations with EV manufacturers-Mahindra Electric, Ola Electric, Gravton Motors, and Ather Energy, the discounts of up to 20 per cent on EVs were secured and the move could translate into savings of up to Rs 4 lakh per employee, an official release said. The discount is applicable for around five lakh government employees in Telangana.

While announcing the scheme, Prabhakar said the state was moving beyond mere encouragement by seeking to make EV...