In yet another major endeavor for implementing and enhancing electric mobility in India, the Union Cabinet approved the implementation of the Prime Minister Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) Scheme on 11 September, 2024. The implementing agency for this scheme is the Ministry of Heavy Industries, Government of India.
This scheme has been approved with an outlay of ₹ 10, 900 crores. It will be implemented over a period of two years, starting from 2024.
It has been approved with the aim of replacing the flagship Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India Phase II (FAME India Phase II) programme. It was in operation till March, 2024. The approved PM E-DRIVE scheme will fix the loopholes and shortcomings of the past FAME schemes. For instance, discrepancy in claiming subsidy for the imported electric vehicles.
The significance of the approved PM E-DRIVE scheme is that it aims to incorporate the phased manufacturing programme. This will encourage domestic manufacturing and supply chain of electric vehicle components in India.
The prime objective of the approved PM E-DRIVE scheme is that it will promote the manufacturing, purchase, and adoption of electric vehicles across all sectors in India. And hence, it will enhance electric mobility in India.
It intends to achieve this aim by undertaking a host of measures. Few of them are as enumerated below:
First, it will subsidize the manufacturing and purchase of electric vehicles. This will increase the sale of electric vehicles.
Second, it will provide demand incentive in order to increase the aggregate demand for all forms of electric vehicles- e-two-wheelers, e-three-wheelers, e-ambulances, e-trucks, and other emerging electric vehicles. The demand creation is expected to be to the tune of 24.79 lakh e-two-wheelers, 3.16 lakh e-three-wheelers, 14,028 e-buses, and 88,500 charging sites.
Third, speaking specifically about the demand generation for 14,028 e-buses, it will be mainly focused in nine cities that have a population of more than 40 lakhs -Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bangalore, Pune, and Hyderabad. The demand aggregation will be done by Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL). It is a green energy focused venture of the Energy Efficiency Services Limited, a joint venture of the four public-sector undertakings- NTPC Limited, Power Finance Corporation Limited, REC Limited, and the Powergrid Corporation of India Limited. The EESL functions under the administrative control of the Ministry of Power, Government of India.
Fourth, the implementing agency of the PM E-DRIVE scheme, i.e., the Ministry of Heavy Industries, Government of India, will introduce e-vouchers for the buyers to avail discounts under this scheme. The buyers of electric vehicles will be issued an e-voucher under the scheme to avail demand incentives. These e-vouchers will be Aadhaar-authenticated and sent to the buyer’s registered mobile number after the purchase. Once these e-vouchers will be submitted by the manufacturers and buyers, they shall be redeemed by the Government of India. Hence, this initiative will incentivize the sale of electric vehicles.
Fifth, Rs 500 crore has been assigned to promote the deployment of e-trucks. This would end the pollution caused by the biggest contributor to air pollution, i.e., trucks that operate from the conventional sources of energy. Under this scheme, in order to be eligible to avail incentives, it is mandatory for the e-trucks to possess a scrapping certificate from an authorised Vehicle Scrapping Centres (RVSFs) of the MoRTH.
Sixth, fast charging ports shall be installed across the country for all forms of electric vehicles- 2,100 fast chargers for e-four wheelers, 1,800 fast chargers for e-buses, and 48,400 fast chargers for e- two-wheelers and e-three-wheelers.
In order to achieve this aim, ₹ 10,900 crores have been approved under this scheme. Its break-up is as follows:
First, ₹ 3,679 crore has been allocated for the demand generation of 2-wheelers (e-2Ws), 3-wheelers (3Ws), e-ambulances, e-trucks and other emerging electric vehicles (EV).
Second, ₹ 500 crore has been allocated for creating demand for e-ambulances. This new initiative aims to provide comfortable and environmentally-friendly patient transport. The standards for performance and safety of these e-ambulances will be developed in consultation with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, and other relevant stakeholders of the Government of India.
Third, ₹ 2,000 crore has been allocated for installing public charging stations along selected cities with high penetration of electric vehicles and also along selected highways for the purpose of charging e-vehicles. This would enable e-vehicles operable across a wide range of distances.
Fourth, ₹ 500 crore has been allocated for purchasing electric trucks.
Fifth, ₹ 780 crore has been allocated for the upgradation of testing agencies.
Sixth, ₹ 4,391 crore has been allocated for procuring e-buses. Under the allocated funds, 14,028 e-buses will be procured for different state public transport agencies.
The approved PM E-DRIVE scheme covers all forms of electric vehicles except electric cars and hybrid cars. It covers under its ambit, all other forms of electric vehicles- electric two-wheelers, electric three-wheelers, electric ambulances, electric trucks, and other emerging electric vehicles.
This scheme intends to enhance the market share of electric two-wheelers to 10% and electric three-wheelers to 15% by March, 2026.
Under the approved scheme, till March, 2025, each electric two-wheeler will receive a subsidy of 10,000, whereas a subsidy of ₹ 50,000 will be provided to each electric three-wheeler.
Besides, in order to increase the penetration of electric mobility in India, the government has taken a host of measures. First, lowering of the GST on the electric cars to 5 % as compared to 28 % on hybrid and CNG vehicles, and 49 % on the internal combustion engine vehicles. Second, exemption of electric vehicles sold in a few states such as Maharashtra, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu, from paying road tax and registration charges. Third, the introduction of the schemes for the localisation of components and batteries. And fourth, sanctioning of the additional funds for the installation of the public charging stations in order to increase the range up to which the electric vehicles can travel in India.
Once this program will be successfully implemented, it would end India’s reliance on conventional fuels and conventional batteries. This biggest threat to this mayhem is that it would usher and augment implementation of lithium-ion batteries-based devices and energy storage systems.
This would enable the accomplishment of the much-cherished dream of the application of green sources of energy, restrict the emission of green-house gases to the levels committed under the Paris Conference (CoP 21), aid in achieving the ambitious target of 30 per cent penetration of electric vehicles in India by 2030, and hence achieve the most ambitious goal of net-zero carbon emissions that India has committed to achieve by 2070.
This is the era of application of green energy. No wonder the implementation of the PM E-DRIVE Scheme is a progress on the right trajectory! And the best days are yet to come.
