Minister of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises,Arvind Ganpat Sawant, has informed that 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 has been designed to enhance national fuel security, to provide affordable and environmentally friendly transportation and to enable the Indian automotive industry to achieve global manufacturing leadership.
As part of the NEMMP 2020, Department of Heavy Industry formulated a Scheme viz. Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) Scheme in the year 2015 to promote manufacturing of electric and hybrid vehicle technology and to ensure sustainable growth of the same.
The Phase-I of the FAME India Scheme was initially launched for a period of 2 years, commencing from 1stApril 2015, which was subsequently extended from time to time and the last extension was allowed up to 31stMarch 2019.
The 1st Phase of FAME India Scheme was implemented through four focus areas namely (i) Demand Creation, (ii) Technology Platform, (iii) Pilot Project and (iv) Charging Infrastructure. In this phase, market creation through demand incentives was aimed at incentivizing all vehicle segments i.e. 2-Wheelers, 3-Wheelers Auto, Passenger 4-Wheeler vehicles, Light Commercial Vehicles and Buses. The demand incentive was available to buyers of xEV in the form of an upfront reduced purchase price to enable wider adoption. Further, specific projects under Pilot Projects, R&D / Technology Development and Public Charging Infrastructure components were sanctioned by the Project Implementation & Sanctioning Committee (PISC) for extending grant under the different focus areas of the Scheme.
Under Phase-I of FAME India Scheme, about 2.78 lakh electric/ hybrid vehicles (xEVs) have been supported with a total demand incentive of Rs. 343 crore [approx] for purchase of xEVs under this scheme. In addition to the above, 465 buses have also been sanctioned to various cities and States under this Scheme.
Based on outcome and experience gained during the Phase-I of FAME India Scheme and after having consultations with all stakeholders including Industry and Industry Associations, Department of Heavy Industry finalized, with the approval of Cabinet, and notified the Phase-II of FAME India Scheme on 8th March 2019, which is for a period of three years commencing from 1st April 2019 with a total budgetary support of Rs. 10,000 crore.
This phase will mainly focus on supporting electrification of public & shared transportation, and aims to support through subsidies 7000 e-Buses, 5 lakh e-3 Wheelers, 55000 e-4 Wheeler Passenger Cars and 10 lakh e-2 Wheelers. With greater emphasis on providing affordable and environment friendly public transportation options for the masses, the scheme will be applicable mainly to vehicles used for public transport or those registered for commercial purposes in e-3W, e-4W and e-bus segments.
However, privately owned registerede-2W will also be covered under the scheme as a mass segment. In addition, creation of charging infrastructure will be supported in selected cities and along major highways to address range anxiety among users of electric vehicles.
Since commencement of the Phase-II of FAME Scheme on 1st April 2019, five (5) Automobile Manufacturers [OEMs] have registered themselves in this Scheme for availing benefit of demand incentive for their registered vehicles as per Scheme’s notification, which is available in Department of Heavy Industries website (www.dhi.nic.in).