The Indian government has already spent Rs 5,228 crore for electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and passenger vehicles under the FAME II subsidy, Car and Bike reports, citing the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) announcement.
Sales since the subsidy’s launch
India initially introduced the FAME II EV subsidy on April 29 and set its end date on March 31, 2024, with an Rs 10,000 crore outlay for five years.
As per MHI’s year-end review, the scheme subsidized the sales of a total of 11,53,079 EVs as of December 1, 2023.
HT Auto indicated that two-wheeler EVs accounted for approximately Rs 2,000 crore out of the Rs 10,000 crore total. Meanwhile, electric scooters and motorcycles benefitted from Rs 1,500 crore under the FAME-II EV subsidy.
Electric bus orders
It is also worth noting that the electric bus industry received astounding electric bus orders of 3,390 units from various state transport and central transport utilities owing to the FAME II subsidy. Of that total, 3,037 electric buses were already on India’s roads.
In addition, the MHI recorded another 3,472 e-bus orders via Convergence Energy Services Ltd. (CESL). Notably, 454 units of the total were already operating in the country.
Public charging station development progress
MHI further asserted that India has already deployed 148 public electric vehicle charging stations to date.
Last March 28, the government body allocated a total of Rs 800 crore for leading oil companies Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum to build 7,432 fast charging stations throughout the country.
MHI also introduced the PLI program to accelerate the country’s auto and component production. As per the announcement, 18 Champion OEMs and 67 Component Champions imposed the PLI Auto Program. It expects the program to gain new investments of about Rs 67,690 crore.
Remarkably, the Indian government is reportedly considering extending the FAME II subsidy into the Financial Year 2025. According to ET, it may seek additional funding and resources in the interim budget to avoid the imminent expiration of the second leg of the government’s flagship Faster Adoption and Manufacturing Electric Vehicles program for local EV production.
