The auto industry has welcomed the FAME-II that was approved by the Cabinet on Thursday, and said it will address the key issues including national energy security, mitigation of adverse impact of vehicles on environment and growth of domestic technology, and manufacturing capabilities.
The scheme with a total outlay of Rs.10,000 crore over the period of three years, will be implemented from April 1, which is an expanded version of the present scheme- Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME-I), which was launched in April 2015 with a total outlay of ₹895 crore.
"The revised FAME II removes all the uncertainty and will put electric vehicles (EVs) in the fast lane. Mahindra supports the government’s focus to boost EVs in public transportation and now requests local authorities to help facilitate plying of electric vehicles on Indian roads," Pawan Goenka, Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra said.
For the last more than two years, the industry has been eagerly waiting for the announcement of a long term policy including the FAME II scheme so that the adoption of EVs in the country gets a fillip.
According to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the industry is poised to make huge investments in manufacturing EVs in all categories of vehicles and developing an indigenous supply chain to ensure 'Make in India'.
"As per our understanding, the FAME II will focus on EVs used for commercial applications and two/ three wheelers and in creating the necessary infrastructure and ecosystem for EVs, which is a welcome move," Rajan Wadhera, President, SIAM, said.
While the details of the Scheme will be known shortly, the announcement of the Scheme, in itself, is a major milestone and augurs very positively for ushering clean and sustainable mobility in the country which the industry and SIAM will fully support, he said.
Also, the extension of the Scheme will bring confidence in the auto as well as in the component industry, while taking long-term investment decisions in EV development and manufacture, with minimum risk, Wadhera added.
Ayush Lohia, Chief Executive Officer, Lohia Auto said that the subsidy will make two and three-wheeler electric vehicles very attractive to customers as it would end up bringing down their costs viz-a-viz petrol vehicles.