New Delhi, Sep 11 (UNI) The Union Cabinet on Wednesday has approved the proposal of Ministry of Heavy Industries for implementation of scheme – ‘PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) Scheme’ for promotion of electric mobility in the country, entailing an outlay of Rs 10,900 crore over a period of 2 years.
The major components of the scheme are – subsidies/demand incentives worth Rs.3,679 crore have been provided to incentivize e-2Ws, e-3Ws, e-ambulances, e-trucks and other emerging EVs. The scheme will support 24.79 lakh e-2Ws, 3.16 lakh e-3Ws, and 14,028 e-buses, an official release stated after the Cabinet meeting chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Ministry of Heavy Industries is introducing e-vouchers for EV buyers to avail demand incentives under the scheme. At the time of purchase of the EV, the scheme portal will generate an Aadhaar authenticated e-Voucher for the buyer. A link to download the e- voucher shall be sent to the registered mobile number of the buyer, it stated.
This e-voucher will be signed by the buyer and submitted to the dealer to avail demand incentives under the scheme. Thereafter, the e-Voucher will also be signed by the dealer and uploaded on the PM E-DRIVE portal. The signed e-voucher shall be sent to the buyer and dealer through an SMS. The signed e-voucher will be essential for OEM to claim reimbursement of demand incentives under the scheme.
The scheme allocates Rs.500 crore for the deployment of e-ambulances. This is a new initiative of Government of India to promote the use of e-ambulance for a comfortable patient transport. The performance and safety standards of e-ambulances will be formulated in consultation with MoHFW, MoRTH and other relevant stakeholders.
A sum of Rs.4,391 crore has been provided for procurement of 14,028 e-buses by STUs/public transport agencies. The demand aggregation will be done by CESL in the nine cities with more than 40 lakh population namely Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad.
Intercity and Interstate e-buses will also be supported in consultation with states, the Government release said.
The trucks are a major contributor to air pollution. The scheme will promote the deployment of e-trucks in the country. A sum of Rs.500 crore has been allocated for incentivising e-trucks. Incentives will be given to those who have a scrapping certificate from MoRTH approved vehicles scrapping centres (RVSF).
In view of the growing EV ecosystem in the country, the test agencies of MHI will be modernized to deal with the new and emerging technologies to promote green mobility. The upgradation of testing agencies with an outlay of Rs.780 crore under the aegis of MHI has been approved.
