With Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS) expiring on September 30, electric two/three-wheeler manufacturers are concerned with no progress or announcement of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME-III) scheme.
They said the government should either continue EMPS from October or bring in FAME-III scheme so that subsidies can continue post September 30.
“October is the biggest month this year because both the festivals (Navratri and Diwali) fall on the same month and the existing (EMPS) scheme ends on September 30,” a Bengaluru-based EV maker told businessline.
The Centre, through a Gazette notification on March 13, notified the EMPS 2024 with an outlay of ₹500 crore so that the FAME-II scheme could continue in another form till July.
It offers subsidies to electric two-wheelers (e2W) and three-wheelers (e3W) offering a subsidy of up to ₹10,000 per e2W and ₹25,000 per e3W. The government first announced the scheme to be implemented between April 1 and July 31, 2024, and on July 26, it announced for an extension till September 30 with a total outlay of ₹778 crore.
FAME-III in draft stages
According to sources in the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI), while the draft for the FAME-III scheme is in the final stages, there was no update from the Finance Ministry on the budget allocation.
In July also, Minister for Heavy Industries HD Kumaraswamy had said that the preparatory work was going on the FAME-III scheme, but did not specify any timeline.
“Already preparatory work is going on. All the seven ministries have recommended how to implement the FAME-III programme. In the future, some months or some future days, we will implement it,” he had said.
Sources also said that the MHI may make some changes in the scheme.
“If the MHI is planning to change the scheme requirements, it is very unclear how vehicles can qualify in October for incentives. It is very crucial for us as a sudden halt in the subsidies would impact the sales, especially when the festive season is on,” said another EV manufacturer. He added that the least the government could do was extend the EMPS till FAME-III was introduced.
Manufacturers such as Ola Electric, TVS Motor, Hero MotoCorp, Ather Energy, Kinetic Green, Bounce and Mahindra Last Mile Mobility are availing subsidies under the EMPS.