The centre on March 13 announced a new scheme to promote sale of electric two and three wheelers.
According to Heavy Industries Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey, Rs 500 crore is being allocated for the Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS), 2024. This scheme is valid for four months from April 1 onwards.
In February 2024, the govt had raised the allocation under the second iteration of Faster Adopt ..
In that instance, the subsidies for electric two, three, and four wheelers were revised to Rs 7,048 crore, of which Rs 5,311 crore was for electric two-wheelers. An allocation of Rs 4,048 crore was made for purchasing electric buses and setting up electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.
The FAME India scheme seeks to facilitate the uptake of EVs and chargers by subsidising them. The programme also aims to spur localisation of EV components while also driving sales up. Initiated in 2019, FAME II has so far provided subsidy on sales of nearly 1.2 million two-wheelers, 141,000 three-wheelers, and 16,991 four-wheelers. More than Rs 5,829 crore has been disbursed under the FAME II scheme.
The demand for and affordability of electric two-wheelers in India have been on the upswing for some time. Price cuts and launch of affordable models by companies like Ola Electric, Ather Energy and Bajaj Auto-owned Chetak Technology have played a major role in narrowing the difference between costs of battery-powered and petrol-run two-wheelers in the country, ET reported in February 2024. Rising affordability is expected to quicken the adoption of electric two-wheelers in India, industry insiders say.
Sales have been on the rise and are being seen at about 850,000 units for FY2024. Electric two-wheelers, however, still only make up just 4.5% of the market.
Along with (still) higher prices, deficient charging infra is considered to be a major cause of slow uptake of these vehicle in the country.
According to data from govt's Vahan portal, electric two-wheeler ..
