GOI unveils ₹10,900cr EV subsidy scheme: No more subsidies on electric and hybrid cars

The Union Government on Wednesday unveiled a new electric vehicle subsidy scheme– PM E-drive. The scheme worth ₹10,900 crore marks the third phase of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) that has already benefited about 1.6 million electric vehicle purchases since 2015.

The new policy aims to increase the use of electric buses while abolishing subsidies for electric and hybrid cars. The PM E-Drive initiative would provide demand incentives for the deployment of 14,028 electric buses, which will be aggregated throughout nine major cities by Convergence Energy Solutions Ltd (CESL), a state-run business. Public transport buses receive a ₹10,000 subsidy per kwh of battery capacity, totalling ₹4,391 crores.

Moreover, the newly launched scheme will also emphasize to establish an extensive charging infrastructure.

In addition to the electric buses, the government is planning to subsidize 316,000 electric three-wheelers and 2.48 million electric two-wheelers with a budget of ₹2,679 crore.

Additionally, the government has allocated ₹500 crore for electric trucks and hybrid ambulances to promote EV use in essential service sectors and commercial vehicles for the first time.

“For ambulances, we are going to give incentives to hybrids because we need total reliability in the vehicles,” Citing Ashwani Vaishnav, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting at a Cabinet briefing, livemint reported.

For trucks, the policy would only provide incentives to individuals who hold a scrapping certificate from a road ministry-approved vehicle scrapping centre.