Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) under phase-II of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) Scheme, 2,31,257 Electric Vehicles have been supported till 1 February by way of Demand Incentive amounting to about Rs 827 crore.

Further, MHI has sanctioned 6315 e-buses to 65 cities/STUs/CTUs/ state government entities for intracity and intercity operations across 26 states/UT under the Scheme. The Ministry has also sanctioned 2877 charging stations in 68 cities across 25 states/UTs under FAME India (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid & Electric Vehicles in India) Scheme Phase II.

Fifty Original Equipment Manufacturers (both start-up and established manufacturers) have registered and revalidated their 106 electric vehicle models as of 28 January, under the scheme. The sale of electric two-wheelers vehicles has increased manifold during the current year as compared to the previous year.

Further, as per the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) report, the Auto industry generates employment of 13 persons for each truck, 6 persons for each car and four persons for each three-wheeler and one person for each two-wheeler.

The National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020 is a National Mission document providing the vision and the roadmap for the faster adoption of electric vehicles and their manufacturing in the country. This plan was designed to enhance national fuel security, provide affordable and environmentally friendly transportation and enable the Indian automotive industry to achieve global manufacturing leadership. As part of the NEMMP 2020, the Ministry of Heavy Industries formulated a Scheme namely the FAME India Scheme in 2015 to promote the adoption of electric/ hybrid vehicles (EVs) in India. Phase-1 of the scheme was available up to 31 March 2019 with a budget outlay of Rs 895 Cr.

This phase of the FAME India Scheme had four focus areas i.e. technological development, demand generation, pilot project and charging infrastructure components. In the 1st phase of the scheme, about 2.8 lakh EVs were supported with total demand incentives of around Rs 359 crore.

In addition, 425 electric and hybrid buses, as sanctioned under the first phase of the scheme, are deployed across various cities in the country with a Government Incentive of about Rs 280 crore. The MHI had also sanctioned about 520 charging stations/infrastructure for around Rs 43 crore under Phase-I of the FAME-India Scheme.

Projects worth about Rs 158 crore are sanctioned for the technology development projects like establishment of testing Infrastructure, setting up of ‘Centre of Excellence for Advanced Research in electrified transportation, Battery Engineering etc. to various organisations/institutions like Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur, Non-Ferrous Material Technology Development Centre (NFTDC), Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) etc.

Based on outcome and experience gained during Phase-I of the FAME India Scheme and after having consultations with all stakeholders, including Industry and Industry Associations, the Government notified Phase-II of the FAME India Scheme for a period of five years commencing from 1 Apri1, 2019 with total budgetary support of Rs 10,000 crore.

This phase mainly focuses on supporting electrification of public & shared transportation and aims to support through demand incentive 7090 e-buses, 5 lakh e-3wheelers, 55000 e-4 wheeler passenger cars and 10 lakh e-2 wheelers. In addition, the creation of charging infrastructure is also supported under the scheme.