New Delhi, To bring the cost of electric vehicles at par with petrol vehicles and support EVs by way of demand incentives under the ‘faster adoption and manufacturing of hybrid and electric vehicles in India’ (FAME India) scheme, the Government has increased the demand incentive for electric two wheelers to Rs 15,000/KWh from Rs 10,000/KWh with an increase in cap from 20% to 40% of the cost of vehicle.
Elaborating on the measures taken to boost the EV sector, Minister of State for Heavy Industries Krishan Pal Gurjar informed Lok Sabha on Tuesday that 49 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of e-2wheelers, e-3wheelers and e-4wheelers have been registered under phase-II of FAME-India scheme as on 26 November, 2021.
At present, phase-II of FAME India scheme is being implemented for a period of 5 years with a total budgetary support of Rs 10,000 crore. This phase focuses on supporting electrification of public and shared transportation and aims to support through subsidies, 7090 e-buses, 5 lakh e-3 wheelers, 55000 e-4 wheeler passenger cars and 10 lakh e-2 wheelers.
Under Phase-I of FAME India scheme, 520 charging stations have been sanctioned, of which 452 charging stations have been installed to support the creation of charging infrastructure and address the anxiety among users of EVs. In phase-II of FAME-India scheme, Rs 1000 crore has been allocated for the development of charging infrastructure. The Ministry has sanctioned 2,877 EV charging stations in 68 cities across 25 states/UTs, 1576 charging stations have been sanctioned across 9 expressways and 16 highways.
The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for manufacturing of advanced chemistry cell (ACC) is aimed at bringing down prices of battery in the country. Drop in battery price will result in cost reduction of electric vehicles. Besides, GST on electric vehicles has been reduced from 12% to 5%; GST on chargers/ charging stations for electric vehicles has been reduced from 18% to 5%. The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) will give green license plates to battery-operated vehicles and exempt them from permit requirements. The Ministry has also issued a notification advising states to waive road tax on EVs, which in turn will help reduce the initial cost.