Central Government To Incentivise Cities For Buying Electric Vehicles

Funds of up to Rs 105 crore will be given to cities, with than 10 lakh residents, buying electric vehicles for mass transportation

After setting its sight on transitioning to full electric mobility by the year 2030, the Government has started taking steps to achieve the same by launching various schemes. Now, under the FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India) India scheme, the Government of India has announced to provide grants to cities buying EVs for mass transport.

The central Government has invited cities having a population of over 10 lakh (as per census 2011) to submit their proposals in order to receive funds under the FAME scheme. Various parameters have been decided to deem a city fit for approval. Some of these include the population of the city, its average pollution level, the number of vehicles registered, ranking in Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and whether it is proposed to be a smart city or not.

The funds allotted per city are capped at Rs 105 crore and will be provided to cities in FY 2017-18 for electric buses, four-wheel passenger EVs and electric 3-wheelers. These vehicles are needed to run on advanced electric batteries for a city to avail these funds. These new batteries don’t have lead in them. Instead, these employ materials like lithium polymer, lithium iron phosphate, etc. to serve the purpose.  

As we all know, charging is a bigger problem than buying an EV. To tackle this, the selected cities will also get an additional fund of Rs 15 crore (maximum) for setting up charging infrastructure. The heavy industry ministry has also invited state government departments to avail the funds to procure electric vehicles for state use.

Demand incentives will be given to special states (seven sister states, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Sikkim and Uttarakhand) for setting up charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.

Incentives are already being provided to electric vehicle buyers in the form reduced pricing, to aid higher adoption under the FAME scheme.

Words: Saransh Goyal

Read More: Electric Cars In India: Present, Problems And Future