New Electric Mobility Scheme: Ather, Ola, TVS, Others Get Govt Nod To Sell EVs

The Centre has reportedly allowed Ather Energy, Ola Electric Mobility, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, TVS and Kinetic Green to sell electric two-wheelers and claim subsidies under the newly unveiled Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS), 2024.

These prospective subsidies can be claimed for sales made in the upcoming four months, ET reported, citing officials close to the matter.

Last month, the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) announced a new scheme to promote sales of electric two- and three-wheelers. The Centre allocated INR 500 Cr for the EMPS 2024, which will be valid for four months till July 2024. 

The EMPS 2024 scheme aims to support the adoption of 3,72,000 two-wheeler and three-wheeler electric vehicles (EVs). To encourage the use of advanced technologies, the subsidies will only be available for vehicles equipped with advanced batteries, an official statement said then.

“The government’s EMPS 2024 programme, which is a component of Atmanirbhar Bharat, aims to develop a resilient, competitive and efficient electric vehicle manufacturing sector in India. The Phased Manufacture Programme, which promotes local manufacture and fortifies the EV supply chain, has been implemented with this goal in mind. Along the value chain, it would also result in a large increase in employment possibilities,” the statement added.

The launch of the EMPS came as a relief to EV companies worried about the lack of subsidy support for sales from April 1. 

As part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative of the government, the EMPS 2024 aims to foster a competitive EV manufacturing sector in the country. To achieve this goal, the scheme has a Phased Manufacturing Programme to encourage domestic manufacturing and strengthen the EV supply chain.

With the controversy-hit FAME-II scheme ending on March 31, 2024, there were demands from various industry stakeholders to extend the scheme or launch the third phase of the FAME scheme. The EMPS scheme is aimed at incentivising EV adoption so that the end of FAME-II does not affect EV sales in the country.

It is pertinent to note that any decision on FAME-III is likely to be taken only after the new government is in place following the upcoming general elections, which will be held across seven phases between April 19 and June 1. 

Introduced in 2019, FAME-II initially had a total budget of INR 10,000 Cr for supporting the adoption of EVs in India. The finance ministry recently approved an additional budget of INR 1,500 Cr for the programme. 

Initially, the second phase of the scheme aimed to support 10 Lakh electric two-wheelers, 5 Lakh electric three-wheelers, 7,000 electric buses and 55,000 electric four-wheeler passenger cars through subsidies.