Electric two-wheelers to be ₹10,000 cheaper: Govt brings new PM 'e-drive scheme' for electric vehicles, 50k subsidy on three-wheelers

The central government has approved a new subsidy scheme 'e-drive scheme' to promote electric vehicles. This scheme has been brought for two years. With this new scheme, the electric two-wheeler will become cheaper by Rs 10,000. Union Heavy Industries Minister HD Kumaraswamy gave this information on Thursday. Speaking at the SIAM event, he said that the new scheme will reduce the price of e-bikes and e-scooters by up to Rs 10,000. At the same time, the price of the electric three-wheeler will be reduced by up to 50 thousand rupees. The Union Cabinet has approved a two-year period of Rs. PM has approved the e-drive scheme with an outlay of Rs 10,900 crore. 100% support will be provided for charging infrastructure at 88,500 sites under PM e-Drive. Subsidy available under new scheme Subsidy amount on e-buses not fixed Union Minister Kumaraswamy said that subsidy amount 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-vouchers to be ready Under this scheme, 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 subsidized under the FAME-II scheme follows the second phase of rapid adoption and production of PM e-drive electric vehicles, which ran for five years and ended 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).