ALL INDIA ROLL OUT OF ELECTRIC VEHICLE SUBSIDY FROM APRIL 1

NEW DELHI: The central government will extend a subsidy programme, currently restricted to major cities, to all purchases of electric or hybrid vehicles in the country starting April 1.

The central government is gearing up for the nation-wide roll out of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicle (FAME) scheme, a programme that provides financial incentives for buying electric and hybrid vehicles. The first phase of the scheme, launched in April 2015, was limited to major cities and will end in March.

Hybrid cars are considered cleaner because they release lower emissions, while electric vehicles do not release emissions.

The FAME programme provides incentives for all vehicles including two-wheelers, threewheelers, four-wheeler passenger vehicles, light commercial vehicles and buses. Incentives range from up to ₹29,000 for bikes and ₹1.38 lakh for cars. More than 127,000 eco-friendly vehicles have received incentives till now.

Policy think tank Centre for Science and Environment has criticised the programme for promoting so-called mild-diesel hybrids, at the cost of promoting electric vehicles and strong hybrids.

CSE found that almost 60% of incentives under the scheme have gone to mild-diesel hybrid cars that already enjoy substantial excise cuts. Electric and strong hybrids have largely remained neglected.

In the first year (2015-16), ₹75 crore was allotted for the FAME programme and has been almost fully spent. In the second year (2016-17), an allocation of ₹122.90 crore was made of which ₹91 crore has been used.