(FE)
The department of heavy industries is likely to relax the eligibility criteria for electric two-wheelers for claiming subsidy under the second phase of the FAME II (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid & Electric Vehicles) scheme, people familiar with the matter said. The development comes weeks after electric vehicle (EV) makers said the conditions to claim subsidy under the new scheme are so stringent that barely any two-wheeler would be eligible. Besides, the vehicles have become costlier, owing to a lower subsidy.
As a result, less than 10 vehicles were certified by the government agencies in April. In March, over 5,000 units were sold. The FAME II scheme rolled out from April 1, and is applicable for the next three years. It aims at providing incentives to 10 lakh two-wheelers, 35,000 electric four-wheelers and 20,000 hybrid vehicles. However, industry experts said that if the eligibility criteria is not relaxed then these targets will not be met.
Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) DG Sohinder Gill said the customers do not want e-bikes without the subsidy and therefore, the sales are not picking up. “Currently, the electric two-wheelers that are manufactured do not meet all the conditions required for the incentive,” Gill.
