Latest news with #ElectricMobilityPromotionScheme
Time of India
20 hours ago
- Automotive
- Time of India
Govt extends PM E-Drive scheme to March 2028: 2W, 3W subsidies to end on this date
The central government has decided to extend its flagship electric mobility initiative, the PM E-Drive scheme, by two more years. The programme, which was originally set to conclude in March 2026, will now run until March 31, 2028, or until its Rs 10,900 crore outlay is fully utilised. Launched in October 2024, the PM E-Drive scheme replaced the earlier Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme and was designed to support the adoption of electric vehicles by offering buyer incentives, boosting localisation of EV components, and expanding the country's charging and testing infrastructure. No extension for electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers Despite the extension, subsidies for electric two- and three-wheelers will still end as originally scheduled on March 31, 2026. These categories are currently eligible for incentives of Rs 5,000 per kWh in FY2025, which will drop to Rs 2,500 per kWh in FY2026, with a cap of 15% of the vehicle's ex-factory price. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Use an AI Writing Tool That Actually Understands Your Voice Grammarly Install Now Undo Simple One review: Is this the EV to beat? | TOI Auto Meanwhile, larger commercial segments - including electric buses, trucks, and ambulances - will continue receiving financial support until March 2028. These vehicle types form a critical part of the government's plan to electrify public transport and reduce urban pollution. Ayush Lohia, CEO, YOUDHA said 'The strong traction we're seeing in the L-5 category highlights the immense potential of cargo electric 3-wheelers. With the PM E-DRIVE incentives Rs 50,000 in year one, Rs 25,000 in year two,buyers are empowered to adopt cleaner vehicles, and OEMs are motivated to scale up production rapidly.'
Mint
21 hours ago
- Automotive
- Mint
Centre extends PM E-Drive by two years, till 2027-28
The government has extended the ₹ 10,900-crore PM E-Drive scheme by two fiscal years, until 2027-28, as a large portion of the scheme's corpus remains unused. About half of the scheme's funds, allocated to ease the upfront cost of more than 14,000 electric buses, more than 5,600 electric trucks, and over 72,000 electric vehicle public charging stations, have remained unused. Initiated in October 2024 after subsuming the Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS), it was set to run until the end of 2025-26. It will now end once its full corpus is exhausted, according to the ministry of heavy industries' 7 August gazette notification. However, incentives for electric two- and three-wheelers will be discontinued from the end of 2025-26. It was the government's third incentive scheme to bolster the adoption of electric mobility in the country. It facilitated the sale of zero-emission vehicles to consumers at a discount, which the government reimbursed. Earlier, two iterations of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (and Hybrid) Vehicles in India, or FAME India, ran for five years each from 2014-15 to 2023-24. The PM E-Drive's planned expenditure on electric buses was a key differentiating factor from earlier electric mobility incentive schemes, such as FAME. As of April, the ministry of heavy industries had given ₹ 422 crore worth of incentives for electric two- and three-wheelers under the scheme, according to a 1 April Lok Sabha disclosure. The EV incentive scheme forms a crucial part of the government's multi-pronged approach to boost the adoption of electric mobility in the country. It is responsible for demand-side incentives, providing direct benefits to consumers on the purchase of an EV, in tandem with supply-side incentives provided by the government under the ₹ 25,938-crore production-linked incentive scheme for automobiles and automotive components. Automakers get benefits for manufacturing zero-emission vehicles under the PLI-Auto scheme. Additionally, the government has relaxed the goods and services tax (GST) on the purchase of an EV to 5%, against a 28% levy on fossil-fuel vehicles. The announcement of the PM E-Drive's extension came days after the government think tank NITI Aayog batted for strengthening the push on electric mobility by proposing disincentives for fossil fuel vehicles in addition to incentives for cleaner mobility. Schemes such as FAME and PM E-Drive have been instrumental in generating consumer support for cleaner mobility. Mint reported in April that the presence of a long-term scheme—the PM E-Drive—had bolstered the sales of EVs in April, as opposed to a year ago, when the second iteration of the FAME India ended. Now, the extension of the PM E-Drive for two more years is likely to generate demand for electric two- and three-wheelers until the March 2026 cut-off date, said Nikhil Dhaka, vice president of public policy at Primus Partners. He added that this is also an opportunity for electric bus adoption. 'The extension is a positive step for India's EV ecosystem, especially for the electric bus segment. It gives state transport bodies and private operators a longer runway to plan deployments, align procurement cycles, scale manufacturing, and strengthen charging infrastructure without rushing against the clock."
Mint
25-05-2025
- Automotive
- Mint
E-buses under PM E-drive to be used now for intercity, tourist travel
Inter-city routes and tourist trails may open up for electric buses which are now confined to cities under a central scheme, two people familiar with the plans said. The ₹10,900-crore PM E-Drive scheme rolled out in September 2024 to expand city transport may soon be expanded for this purpose, the people said on the condition of anonymity. On Friday, the government allotted 10,900 buses under the scheme, which aims at a total of 14,028 buses. 'The allotment announced on 22 May will first be tendered, followed by demand generation and tendering of more electric buses to remaining cities," one of the two people cited above said. 'Then more buses will be deployed for intercity purposes, and for some tourist destinations, for instance, hilly areas." The plan to permit electric buses for intercity travel and tourism purposes will be implemented after the competitive bidding for all cities is completed, the officials mentioned above said. Also read | Govt rushes to find demand for electric trucks under PM E-Drive after bare FY25 Under the scheme, nine cities with over 40 million people are eligible to receive subsidized e-buses, including New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Surat and Pune. On 22 May, heavy industries minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said Bengaluru will get 4500 electric buses, Hyderabad 2,000, Delhi 2,800, Ahmedabad 1,000, and Surat 600, in the first phase. Tendering of the first phase of buses allotted on 22 May will begin in 4-6 weeks, the second official said. Competitive bidding for the supply of the first phase of buses allotted on 22 May will begin in 4-6 weeks, the second official said. Incentives for each bus sold Typically, the cost of an electric bus is approximately ₹1 crore. Under the PM E-drive scheme, the Centre is planning to dole out a ₹20-35 lakh incentive for every electric bus sold. The development assumes importance as nearly 40% of the scheme is set aside for the rollout of 14,028 electric buses till FY26. Transport-related emissions in cities and along highways currently account for 10-15% of the pollution in our cities, said Viral Thakker, partner & leader - sustainability & climate, Deloitte South Asia. Also read | ARAI likely to plan division of auto testing agencies allocation 'There are several advantages of using buses for intercity travel - a large and efficient network of buses can replace cars and provide alternative transportation options to passengers. Electric buses are also a good addition to tourism locations as India looks to develop a number of sustainable tourism destinations," said Thakker. Subsuming schemes The PM E-drive scheme, announced in September 2024, subsumed the Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS), which ran from April 2024 to September 2024. The EMPS and PM E-drive scheme came after a decade of electric mobility incentivization under two iterations of the FAME scheme. FAME stands for Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (and Hybrid) vehicles. The PM E-drive scheme, set to run for two years till the end of FY26, marked a change in the focus of incentivisation of electric mobility, as it focused on incentivising public transportation to become electric, along with a focus on sunrise sectors such as electric trucks and ambulances. It also incentivised electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers. The scheme mandates manufacturers to provide electric vehicles to consumers at a lower price. The government then reimburses manufacturers. Also read | More than 6 lakh electric 2, 3-wheelers sold under PM E-Drive scheme since April While electric two- and three-wheelers under the scheme are given direct incentives on purchase, the procedure to incentivize electric buses is little more complex. First, the government gathered demand for electric buses from state governments. After this, it finalized allocation to each city mentioned in the scheme. The next step is to conduct competitive bidding for such buses, where state transport utilities would bid for such buses and secure them at affordable rates.
