The Ministry of Finance is expected to approve a corpus of ₹40 billion (~$0.58 billion) as subsidy to be disbursed under the second phase of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicles (FAME) program.

According to a report by the Press Trust of India (PTI) that quoted official sources, “The heavy industry ministry had sought over ₹122 billion (~$1.77 billion) in financial support to implement the program over the next five years.”

The second phase of the program is expected to entail subsidy only for electric buses and setting up of charging infrastructure for all categories of vehicles. At present, the incentive is being offered on purchase of strong hybrid and electric cars, two-wheelers and three-wheelers under FAME India- I. As per the program, depending on the technology, battery operated scooters and motorcycles are also eligible for incentives ranging between ₹1,800 (~$26.16) to ₹29,000 (~$421.49), while in three-wheelers the range is between ₹3,300 (~$47.96) and ₹61,000 (~$886.57).

The cabinet is expected to consider the second phase of the scheme for approval in a fortnight, government officials told PTI. The subsidy allocation was decided at a meeting between the expenditure secretary and his counterpart from the heavy industry ministry.

The government had launched the FAME program with an initial outlay of ₹750 million (~$11.56 million) to provide a major push for the early adoption and creation of a market for both hybrids and EVs. The FAME Program covers all vehicles ― two-wheelers, three-wheelers, four wheelers and buses. The incentives to be provided are based on the type and make of any given vehicle.

The approval of this subsidy corpus for FAME-II will be another step, in line with the Government of India’s vision of achieving 100 percent e-mobility by 2030. Recently, India also launched the National E-Mobility Program.

The government has already formulated policies to support the necessary infrastructure for e-mobility. Recently, the Ministry of Power issued a clarification stating that no license is required to operate EV charging stations in India. This may boost participation of more private players in the space and expedite the charging infrastructure building.

Image credit: By Ryanmirjanic [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons