The Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) on Tuesday (November 19) again started providing subsidy on electric three-wheelers under the PM e-drive scheme. Under this scheme, a subsidy of Rs 50,000 is provided by the government on the purchase of an electric three-wheeler.
For this financial year (FY2025), the target of subsidy provided on electric three wheelers under the scheme was met. Therefore, the central government stopped providing the subsidy for the financial year 2025. MHI has now sanctioned more than the entire budget of the scheme for electric three wheelers.
The subsidy amount will be adjusted next year Additional amounts used to subsidize E-3W in FY2025 will be adjusted from next year's budget. Industry officials have expressed concern that the FY 2026 funding will also run out by the first quarter of the fiscal year.
However, on how many vehicles the subsidy amount will be given has not been disclosed. The Ministry gave this information after the National Conference on Electric Vehicles. In which PM's advisor Tarun Kapoor and FICCI president Anish Shah etc. were present.
Officials participated in the National Conference on Electric Vehicles.
This scheme was launched only last month The Union Cabinet launched the scheme last month to promote the sale of electric vehicles. In which the PM e-drive scheme was approved with an outlay of Rs 10,900 crore for battery-powered two-wheelers, ambulances, trucks and three-wheelers.
It will be applicable from 1 October 2024 to 31 March 2026. Under the new scheme, a subsidy of up to Rs 10,000 is being given on electric two-wheelers. 100% support will be provided for charging infrastructure at 88,500 sites under PM e-Drive.
Subsidy is available under PM e-drive scheme
| Vehicle type | quantity | Subsidy (per kWh) | total cost |
| Electric two-wheeler (e2w) | 24.79 lakhs |
First year – ₹5000 (Total ₹10,000) 2nd Year – ₹2500 (Total ₹10,000) |
₹1,772 crore |
| Electric Three-Wheelers (e3w) | 3.16 lakhs |
First year – ₹50,000 Second year – ₹25,000 |
₹907 crore |
| Electric buses | has been kept at 14,028 | The amount is not fixed | ₹4,391 crore |
| Hybrid Ambulance | not ok | The amount is not fixed | ₹500 crore |
The amount of subsidy on e-buses is not fixed Union Minister Kumaraswamy said that the amount of subsidy for electric buses has not been fixed. He said the target is to achieve 10% EV penetration in the two-wheeler segment and 15% EV penetration in the three-wheeler segment by the end of the plan.
The Union Minister said that electric cars and hybrid vehicles are not included in the PM e-drive scheme. Electric cars are already taxed at a lower GST slab of 5%. Apart from this, benefits are also available under the Auto PLI scheme.
Aadhaar authenticated e-voucher will be generated Under the scheme, the Ministry of Heavy Industries will offer e-vouchers for EV buyers. Aadhaar authenticated e-vouchers will be generated for buyers on the scheme portal while purchasing a vehicle. This voucher will ensure that there is no irregularity in subsidizing the buyer from the dealership.
Focus on charging infrastructure The government's focus is on strengthening the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in India. Therefore, under the scheme, more than 18% of the total expenditure is reserved for charging. Under the scheme, 22,100 fast chargers for electric 4-wheelers, 1,800 fast chargers for e-buses and 48,400 fast chargers for electric 2-wheelers/3-wheelers are planned to be installed.
13,21,800 EVs have been subsidized under FAME-II scheme PM E-Drive follows the second phase of accelerated adoption and production of electric vehicles, which lasted for five years and ends on March 31, 2024. During that period, under FAME-II scheme a total of Rs. 13,21,800 EVs were subsidized at a cost of Rs 11,500 crore.
This scheme later Rs. 500 crore was replaced by Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS) 2024, which was valid for four months and extended till September 31, 2024.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
