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With the deadline for the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (and Hybrid) Vehicles (FAME-II) programme nearing, the government has met 70 per cent (or 1.22 million) of the target of more than 1.74 million electric vehicles (EVs) since the launch of the scheme in March 2019.
As monthly sales of EVs consistently surpassed 100,000 throughout 2023, the Centre is optimistic the target will be achieved before the March 31 deadline.
“Given the rapid rate of EV penetration, we are confident of achieving the target of supporting 1.74 million vehicles,” an official of the Ministry of Heavy Industries said, adding, “soon there will be no money to spend”.
As of December 26, the government utilised 81 per cent, or Rs 8,948 crore, of the Rs 11,096 crore funds allocated under the scheme.
According to the ministry data, sourced by Business Standard, the highest success was witnessed in the electric bus (e-bus) segment. The government has committed itself to 94 per cent of the targeted 7,262 e-buses, with 3,620 of them already deployed.
In contrast, the electric four-wheeler (e4W) segment exhibited the lowest success rate, with support provided to only 51 per cent of the targeted 30,461 vehicles. Similarly, support was extended to 69 per cent of the 1.55 million vehicles in the electric two-wheeler (e2W) segment.
In the electric three-wheeler (e3W) segment, the support achieved was 80 per cent of the targeted 155,536.
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In order to sustain the scheme until its deadline, the ministry initiated two steps. One was to reduce the maximum subsidy for an e2W from Rs 66,000 to approximately Rs 22,500, starting from June 1. And the second is getting an additional Rs 1,500 crore from the finance ministry.
The vehicle-support target was also raised from 1.56 million to 1.74 million. The target for e2Ws was raised by 50 per cent to 1.55 million, while for e3Ws it was reduced by 68 per cent to 155,536. It was reduced for e4W by 13 per cent to 30,461.
The target for buses was increased to 7,262 units from 7,090.
“The incentives for players found violating the phased manufacturing programme (PMP) guidelines and those who have failed to submit the documents under the norms have been removed from the number of claims,” said a ministry official, adding, “earlier our dashboard data showed applications for claims received but now it will show claim disbursement”.
The e2W category secured the highest funding, totalling Rs 5,311 crore, followed by the e-bus segment with Rs 3,209 crore.
Additionally, Rs 987 crore and Rs 750 crore were, respectively, allocated to the e3W and e4W categories.
A total of Rs 839 crore was allocated for establishing 7,580 public-charging stations. Of this, the government gave Rs 582 crore to oil-marketing companies for setting them up.
