“The centre is anticipated to open the much-awaited third phase of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicle (FAME) scheme in the upcoming one-two months,” heavy industries minister ‘HD Kumaraswamy’ said.
The minister gave this guarantee just before the Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS) 2024, a temporary program, is about to expire at the end of this month. According to Kumaraswamy, efforts are being made to resolve the problems with the scheme’s first two phases, and an interministerial panel is working on the suggestions received for the plan.
“Many recommendations are coming for FAME-III since we are working to address any gaps in FAME-I and FAME-II regarding how to separate them. Even the PMO has offered some recommendations, and our interministerial group is currently working on them.It should be resolved in a month or two, I believe,” Kumaraswamy said.
Due to a decline in sales of battery-powered vehicles, a number of electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers and industry associations have been pressuring the government to implement the third phase of FAME as soon as possible. The EMPS subsidy is restricted to electric two- and three-wheelers, in contrast to the FAME-II plan.
According to sources at the ministry of heavy industries, the FAME 3 plan will not see many significant modifications, and the subsidy requirements might be the same as they were in the scheme’s second phase.
“The plan is nearing completion and will probably launch at the start of October,” said a senior official at the ministry.
With a three-year initial investment of Rs 10,000 crore, FAME-II was unveiled in 2019. Later on, though, it was extended till March 2024 for an extra expense of Rs 1,500 crore. Initially, 55,000 passenger vehicles, 7,000 electric buses, 10 lakh electric two-wheelers, and 5 lakh electric three-wheelers were supported under the program.
