India announces ₹11,000 crore incentives over two years to promote adoption of electric vehicles

The Government of India has approved an ₹11,000 crore scheme to accelerate adoption of electric mobility over the next two years. 

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved a proposal made by the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) for implementation of 'PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) Scheme', the Press Information Bureau announced.

The scheme's primary objective is to expedite the adoption of electric vehicles by providing upfront incentives for their purchase, as well as by facilitating the establishment of essential charging infrastructure for EVs. The scheme aims to promote EVs to reduce the environmental impact of transportation and improve air quality, the press release said. The major components of the scheme were revealed as:

• Subsidies/ demand incentives worth ₹3,680 crore provided to boost purchase of electric vehicles (EVs) including e-2 wheelers, e-3 wheelers, e-ambulances, e-trucks and other emerging EVs. The scheme expects to support 24.79 lakh e-2Ws, 3.16 lakh e-3Ws, and 14,028 e-buses.
• The scheme proposes installation of 22,100 fast chargers for e-4 wheelers, 1,800 fast chargers for e-buses and 48,400 fast chargers for e-2W and e-3Ws. The outlay for electric vehicle public charging stations (EVPCS) will be ₹2,000 crore. They will be installed in cities with high EV penetration and on select highways.
• MHI will introduce e-vouchers for EV buyers to avail demand incentives. Buyers will receive an Aadhaar-authenticated e-voucher on their registered mobile number, which will have to be signed and submitted to the dealer to avail incentives.
• An allocation of ₹500 crore has been made for deployment of e-ambulances. The performance and safety standards for e-ambulances will be formulated in consultation with the Union health and road ministries, as well as other relevant stakeholders, the government said.
• The scheme has provision of ₹4,400 crore for procurement of 14,028 e-buses by state transport undertakings / public transport agencies. The demand aggregation will be done by Convergence Energy Services Ltd (CESL) in the nine cities that have population exceeding 40 lakh --- Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad. Intercity and interstate e-buses will also be supported in consultation with states.
• The scheme will provide ₹500 crore to promote the deployment of e-trucks to combat the air pollution occurring as a result of conventional trucks. Incentives will be given to those who have a scrapping certificate from vehicles scrapping centers approved by the Union road ministry.
• MHI has provided ₹780 crore for upgradation of testing agencies, which will be modernized to deal with the new and emerging technologies to promote green mobility.