The government wants to expand the use of electric vehicles in the country. However, the budget allocated for 2023-24 only includes Rs 180 crore for chargers out of Rs 5,171.97 crore allocated for the FAME Phase II scheme.
Electric buses will receive around Rs 3,000 crores in the Union Budget for 2023-24.
The paltry sum of Rs 180 crores for chargers is all the more shocking as the second phase’s main objective was to create the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
The total budget for the Heavy Industries Ministry, which is the nodal minister for FAME, was Rs 6,171.63 Crores. Out of this, Rs 5,171.97 Crore, or 80% of the budget, has been allocated to the FAME II scheme for 2023-24.
Official sources stated that the Heavy Industry Ministry was unable to install the majority of chargers. Therefore, it has been assigned to the Petroleum Ministry to deploy charging stations at retail outlets for public sector enterprises.
This is because PSUs that fall under the Petroleum Ministry have a greater ability to adopt EVs since they already provide energy solutions across the country. Sources said that this would result in faster implementation of the scheme.
The FAME-II scheme was announced for five years duration. Its deadline is March 31, 2024. The Indian automotive industry has a total value of around Rs 10 lakh crore.
Sources say that the government is only supporting 15.62 lakhs EVs, which may not be sufficient to achieve the main purpose of the FAME scheme which was to reduce CO2 emissions, improve air quality, and save foreign exchange by importing fossil fuels until March 2024.
Sources said that the ministry could extend the scheme’s deadline beyond March 2024.
Sources say that the second phase of the project was approved because it had been successful in creating a major discourse about electric mobility among all stakeholders, including the different departments at both the Centre and the States.
The second phase of FAME had as its main goal to promote the adoption of hybrid and electric vehicles. This was done by offering upfront incentives for the purchase of these vehicles, and by creating the charging infrastructure necessary for electric vehicles.
