The centre notified PM E-DRIVE scheme Monday. A gazette notification said the scheme will have an outlay of INR 10,900 crore, and shall be implemented from October 1, 2024, to March 31, 2026. It aims for faster adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), setting up of charging infrastructure and development of EV manufacturing eco-system in the country.
This scheme will also absorb the ongoing Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS), 2024. “The number of vehicles and the expenditure under EMPS, 2024 is subsumed under the PM E-DRIVE Scheme,” the notification said.
PM E-DRIVE offers subsidies for electric two, and three wheelers, e-ambulances, e-trucks and ‘other new emerging EV categories.’ There will also be grants for creation of capital assets such as e-buses, establishment of network of charging stations and upgradation of testing agencies identified under this scheme.
But efforts of the Central Government to promote e-mobility needs supplemental support from State Governments. “States need to offer bouquet of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives,” the notification stated while listing exemption from permits, concessional road tax, toll tax, parking fees, registration charges or their waiver as possible incentives.
In all, sops worth INR 8,070 crore have been earmarked for EVs. Buses get the lion’s share at INR 4,391 crore, followed by two-wheelers at INR 1,772 crore.
A Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP) has also been notified under PM E-DRIVE to support localisation of EV components. EV chargers will need to have a minimum of 50% domestic value addition (DVA) from December 1, 2024, to be eligible for sops under the scheme.
The notification also said financial support for electric two-wheelers will be halved to INR 5,000 per vehicle from 2025-26. For electric three-wheelers, the subsidy will be capped at INR 25,000 per vehicle.
The PM E-DRIVE, like its predecessor Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme, is aimed at subsidising locally manufactured vehicles. But the earlier iteration was marred with instances of companies selling largely imported vehicles and wrongly availing subsidies. The government has attempted to address these concerns in the new scheme through stringent checks.
