The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the PM E-Drive Scheme with an outlay of Rs 10,900 crore for two years to boost adoption of electric vehicles in India, replacing the flagship FAME programme that ran for nine years till March this year.
In a related development, the Cabinet also approved the PM-eBus Sewa-Payment Security Mechanism (PSM) scheme, for procurement and operation of e-buses by Public Transport Authorities (PTAs) with an outlay of Rs 3,435.33 crore.
This scheme will support deployment of more than 38,000 electric buses (e-Buses) from FY25 to FY 29. The scheme will support the operation of e-buses for a period of up to 12 years from the date of deployment.
The decision on PM Electric Drive Revolution In Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-Drive) Scheme was taken at the meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, information and broadcasting minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
The scheme will support 2.48 million electric two-wheelers, 316,000 e-three wheelers, and 14,028 e-buses.
The PM E-Drive will also support 88,500 charging sites, Vaishnaw said.
The new scheme offers subsidies/demand incentives worth Rs 3,679 crore to incentivise adoption of electric two-wheelers, electric three-wheelers, e-ambulances, e-trucks and other emerging elecric vehicles (EVs).
A sum of Rs 4,391 crore has also been provided for procurement of 14,028 e-buses by state transport undertakings and public transport agencies.
Besides, Rs 500 crore has been earmarked for the deployment of e-ambulances. This is a new initiative of the government to promote the use of e-ambulance for a comfortable patient transport.
A sum of Rs 500 crore has been provided for incentivising adoption of e-trucks.
According to a government statement, the scheme addresses range anxiety of EV buyers by promoting in a big way the installation of electric vehicle public charging stations (EVPCS). These EVPCS shall be installed in the selected cities with high EV penetration and also on selected highways.
The scheme proposes the installation of 22,100 fast chargers for e-4-wheelers, 1,800 fast chargers for e-buses and 48,400 fast chargers for e-2wheelers and three wheelers. The outlay for EV PCS will be Rs 2,000 crore.
In view of the growing EV ecosystem in the country, the test agencies of ministry of heavy industries MHI will be modernised to deal with the new and emerging technologies to promote green mobility. The upgradation of testing agencies with an outlay of Rs 780 crore under the aegis of MHI has been approved.
The scheme promotes an efficient, competitive and resilient EV manufacturing industry thereby promoting Aatmanirbhar Bharat. This will be achieved by incorporating phased manufacturing programme (PMP) which encourages domestic manufacturing and strengthening of EV supply chain, the statement said.
Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicle (FAME) Scheme was launched in April 2015, which came to an end on March 31 this year.
