India has witnessed a massive surge in the sale of electric vehicles over the last two financial years. According to an IANS report, the industry sold 48,179 EVs in Financial Year 2020-21, which then went up nearly 5-fold in FY 2021-22 at 2,37,811 units. In comparison, just the year-to-date (YTD) sale of electric vehicles in FY 2022-23 (till December 9, 2022) stands at 4,42,901 units, witnessing over 9x growth as against FY2021. At the same time, compared to the previous fiscal year, EV sales in India grew by over 86 per cent.
In fact, as of December 9, 2022, 64 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of electric vehicles were registered in India. And according to the ministry of heavy vehicles, one of the main reasons for this rise in EV sales is the Government of India’s Phase II of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles or FAME scheme.
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The FAME II scheme was implemented for a period of five years, beginning from April 1, 2019, with total budgetary support of Rs. 10,000 crore.
Recently Mahendra Nath Pandey, Minister of Heavy Industries, said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha that the ministry had implemented the FAME Phase II scheme to promote the adoption of electric/hybrid vehicles in the country. The scheme was implemented for a period of five years, beginning from April 1, 2019, with total budgetary support of Rs. 10,000 crore. And so far, over 7.47 lakh EVs have been sold under the FAME Phase II scheme.
This second phase of the FAME scheme was designed with a focus towards the electrification of public and shared transportation. The scheme offered subsidies for 10 lakh e-two-wheelers (e-2Ws), 5 Lakh e-three-wheelers (e-3Ws), 55,000 e-four-wheeler (e-4Ws) passenger cars, and 7090 e-buses.
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So far, over 7.47 lakh EVs have been sold under the FAME Phase II scheme.
Having said that, the Minster has also informed the Lok Sabha that the ministry has received complaints regarding the misappropriation of subsidies under FAME India Phase II by some EV manufacturers. The complaints are mainly related to violations of the phased manufacturing programme (PMP) guidelines under FAME India Phase II. The minister has said that the cases have been referred to the testing agencies and based on the report the models of two OEMs have been suspended from the FAME scheme until they submit sufficient evidence to show their compliance with PMP timelines.
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The minister also added that the FAME II scheme helps in the demand generation of EVs by way of reducing the cost of acquisition of such vehicles. As the demand for EVs increases, the pace of implementation of FAME India also goes up.
With inputs from IANS
