FAME III Scheme Nears Finalization: Boosting India's Electric Future

The third phase of the FAME scheme, aimed at promoting electric and hybrid vehicles in India, is in its final stages. The previous phases have seen significant support for electric vehicles, charging infrastructure, and technological development, with substantial budgets and incentives to drive adoption.

The third phase of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme is nearing completion, but the timeline remains unclear. Union Minister for Heavy Industries HD Kumaraswamy, while attending an industry event, stated that preparations for FAME III are underway, with ministries providing implementation recommendations.

The Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) launched the FAME scheme in 2015 to encourage the use of electric or hybrid vehicles in India. The first phase of the scheme, which lasted until March 2019, had a budget of Rs 895 crore and focused on four main areas: technological advancements, demand generation, pilot projects, and charging infrastructure.

During Phase I, approximately 2.8 lakh hybrid vehicles received demand incentives totaling around Rs 359 crore. Additionally, 425 electric and hybrid buses were deployed across various cities with government incentives amounting to Rs 280 crore. The Ministry sanctioned 520 charging stations and infrastructure projects worth about Rs 43 crore. Technology development projects, including a 'Centre of Excellence' for advanced research in electrified transportation, were also funded.

Building on the learnings from Phase I, the government launched Phase II in April 2019 with a budget of Rs 11,500 crore over five years. This phase focused on supporting public and shared transportation electrification and included demand incentives for over 10 lakh electric vehicles, including e-buses, e-3 wheelers, e-4 wheeler passenger cars, and e-2 wheelers.

As of July, EV manufacturers have submitted claims for 16,71,606 electric vehicles amounting to Rs 6,825 crore for subsidy reimbursement. Additionally, 6,862 electric buses were sanctioned for intra-city operations, with 4,853 e-buses supplied by July 2024.

The Ministry also allocated Rs 800 crore as capital subsidy to three Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) for creating 7,432 electric vehicle public charging stations. A subsidy of Rs 560 crore has already been released, and an additional Rs 73.50 crore sanctioned for setting up 980 new public fast charging stations.

This information was provided by Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Steel, Bhupathi Raju Srinivasa Varma, in a written statement to the Rajya Sabha. (ANI)