New Delhi: In what could be a boon for people aspiring to drive their own electric vehicles, the government is looking to extend the provisions of its FAME II subsidy program to buyers of passenger cars for personal use.

Government sources said they are also considering including e-bikes in the capital grant program, given its growing popularity and the need to reduce its cost to customers.

The new inclusions would ensure that the Fame II or Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and EV program would encompass the entire range of electric vehicles used for both personal and commercial use and for public transport.

At present, the benefits of the Fame II scheme only cover two-wheelers, three-wheelers, four-wheel passenger vehicles and electric freight vehicles. By virtue of this, vehicles benefit from on-demand incentives which help to lower their purchase price. FAME 2 had increased the benefit offered from Rs 10,000 per kWh to Rs 15,000 per kWh. That’s a 50% increase.

The maximum subsidy ceiling is also raised to 40% of the cost of electric two-wheelers, from 20% previously, while the program is now in effect until March 31, 2024, from the early closure of March 31, 2022.

Sources said that for passenger cars purchased for personal use and e-bikes, the government may come up with a revised benefit structure. But nothing on this has been worked out yet.

The SCALE Committee or Steering Committee for Advancing Local Value Added and Exports, a joint government-industry panel tasked with accelerating the growth of India’s manufacturing sector, has also fought to provide incentives for the demand for bicycles. electric. In its report to the Ministry of Commerce, the committee headed by Mahindra & Mahindra General Manager Pawan Goenka recommended FAME as an incentive of Rs 5,000 per unit for electric bikes to reduce its cost by at least Rs 3,000.

The FAME II program, introduced to foster greater adoption of electric vehicles in India, was launched with a budget expenditure of Rs 10,000 crore in April 2019, to support 7,000 e-buses, 5,000,000 e-three wheels, 55,000 e-vehicles. and a million electric two-wheelers.

To date, approximately 1,24,415 vehicles have benefited from it. This includes 99,652 electric two-wheelers, 23,059 electric three-wheelers and 1,693 electric four-wheelers. In terms of state registrations, Karnataka (25,725 EV), Tamil Nadu (19,222 EV), Maharashtra (13,384 EV), Uttar Pradesh (7,990 EV), Rajasthan (10,010 EV) and Delhi (8,897 EV) are the main states to benefit from the benefits of the scheme.