Providing some festive cheer, Centre has approved the proposal of Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) for implementation of ‘PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) Scheme’ for promotion of electric mobility in the country. According to the scheme, subsidies and incentives worth Rs. 3,679 crore will be provided to boost sales of electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers, ambulances, trucks and other emerging EVs.
The scheme has an outlay of Rs 10,900 crore over a period of two years.
According to the Govt, the scheme will support 24.79 lakh electric two-wheelers, 3.16 lakh electric three-wheelers, and 14,028 electric buses. Ministry of Heavy Industries will also introducing e-vouchers for EV buyers to avail demand incentives under the scheme. The OEM will then need to claim reimbursement of incentives provided. The scheme also proposes the installation of 22,100 fast chargers for electric cars, 1800 fast chargers for electric buses and 48,400 fast chargers for electric two and three wheelers.
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Number of fast chargers will go up significantly as a part of the scheme.
An amount of Rs. 4,391 crore has also been provided for procurement of 14,028 electric buses for public transport all over the country. Buses will be added in 9 cities with a population of more than 40 lakh. These include Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad. Intercity and Interstate e-buses will also be supported in consultation with states.
Preference will be given in cases where old buses will be scrapped through authorised scrapping centres.
Rs. 500 crore has been allocated for promoting electric trucks where incentives will be given to those who have a scrapping certificate from MoRTH approved vehicles scrapping centres (RVSF). Additionally, the scheme also allocates Rs.500 crore for the deployment of e-ambulances. Finally, the upgradation of testing agencies with an outlay of Rs. 780 crore under the aegis of MHI has also been approved.
