Boost To E-Mobility In India: Govt Modifies FAME Scheme To Bring Down Prices Of 2-Wheeler EVs

In a big boost for e-mobility, the government has modified its ambitious scheme for Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) in a bid to reduce the cost of electric vehicles in India and bring it in parity with the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles.

The Ministry of Heavy Industries had launched the FAME I scheme in April 2015 and extended it till March 2019. The second phase of the scheme (FAME II) began in April 2019 to support the electrification of public and shared transportation and to help in create charging infrastructure.

The ministry has allocated Rs 10,000 crore for FAME II for a period of three years till March 2022. The sum allocated to the scheme in phase two is to be spent on subsidising 500,000 three-wheelers, one million two-wheelers, 55,000 passenger vehicles and 7,090 buses, reports Livemint.

According to a corrigendum published in the Gazette of India on Thursday (11 June), the ministry has now modified the scheme to promote electric mobility by allotting the electric three-wheelers and buses component of FAME scheme to state-run Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL).

"EESL will aggregate demand for three lakh Electric three-Wheelers for multiple user segments. Details will be worked out by EESL for implementation," the ministry said in the corrigendum.

"For Electric Buses, four million plus cities (Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Surat, and Pune) will be targeted. EESL will go for aggregation of demand in these 9 cities for remaining E-buses under the Scheme on OPEX basis," it added.

Further, the ministry has also revised the demand incentive for electric two wheelers increased from Rs 10,000/KWh to Rs 15,000/KWh.

The cap on incentives for Electric 2-wheelers will be 40 per cent of the cost of vehicles, the ministry said in the corrigendum.