While several electric two-wheeler manufacturers are enjoying the benefit of subsidies under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicles (FAME-II) scheme in India, some manufacturers such as Revolt Motors and Greaves Electric Mobility (Ampere) are still struggling to get their names back in the government’s portal to get the benefits, even after paying the penalties.
Sources close to the development told businessline that because of the same reason, these companies are unable to pass on the subsidies to the customers (in the form of discounts), while selling their electric two-wheelers.
Both the companies had applied for re-certification under the FAME scheme in December, after refunding the entire incentive amount with interest, to the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) so that they can get the benefits under the scheme.
The matter is related to the show cause notices sent to seven original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) including Greaves Electric Mobility, Hero Electric, Okinawa Autotech, Benling India, Revolt Intellicorp, Amo Mobility and Lohia Auto early last year, for violations of FAME-II guidelines. They were asked to return subsidies availed under the scheme.
Under the FAME-II guidelines, it was mandated that OEMs source 50 per cent of their raw materials from Indian manufacturers. However, these OEMs flouted the policy by continuing to utilise Chinese components.
Most of the OEMs including Greaves Electric Mobility (₹124.91 crore) and Revolt Motors (₹50.02 crore) had paid the penalties, including the interest by October 2023. At that point in time, MHI had told them that their names would be back on the portal (to avail the benefits), but still, no step has been taken so far even after six months.
When checked with Revolt, the company was hopeful of getting the certification soon. “We understand that the onboarding of Revolt on the FAME/government subsidy programme is in the final stages. We expect the approval very soon,” Sandeep Kumar, Director, Revolt, told businessline.
Queries sent to Greaves via email, did not elicit any response till the time of going to the press.
Both the OEMs are selling their EVs without any discounts now, due to the absence of the subsidies.
“There were some confusions and a few reasons; therefore, their names (Greaves and Revolt) are yet not on the portal,” a senior official told businessline when asked about the updates from the MHI.
Interestingly, the FAME-II scheme was valid till March 31 this year, and companies who were getting the benefits under the scheme are still getting subsidies in instalments. To attract the adoption of EVs, the government has now launched Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme, 2024 (EMPS).
The EMPS was announced in March, with a total outlay of ₹500 crore to be implemented from April 1 to July 31, 2024 applicable to only electric two-wheeler (e-2W) and three-wheeler (e-3W).