Bengaluru: The Centre has selected 11 cities, including Bengaluru, in the country to promote electric vehicles in public transport system under the e-mobility project.
Under the project, named Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicles in India (FAME India), the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, is targeting a fully electric fleet for public transport, including buses, taxis and auto-rickshaws in these cities.
According to the scheme, the ministry will provide financial incentives to states for the purchase of electric buses, three-wheelers, four-wheelers and for setting up charging infrastructure for public transport.
Other cities selected for the implementation of the scheme are Delhi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mumbai, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkata, Jammu and Guwahati.
The selected cities are required to finalise the tendering process for procuring buses and setting up a charging infrastructure.
The ministry will spend about Rs 437 crore under FAME India scheme, which includes about Rs 40 crore for installation of charging infrastructure as incentives.
The minister said efforts are being made to lower the cost olithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles.
According to the ministry, the subsidy to be provided to buses is in the range of Rs 75 lakh to Rs 1 crore, which is 60% of the cost.
For taxis, the subsidy amount is Rs 1.24 lakh which is 10-15% of its cost.
Karnataka to buy 40 electric buses
Karnataka is a trail blazer in the Electric mobility sector and has issued the Electric Vehicle and Energy Storage Policy recently. It is proposed to create a nurturing eco system for the development of industries in the EV sector and also support and facilitate demand side requirements of the sector due to its nascent stage.
“Karnataka is set to procure and ply 40 Electric buses, 100 four wheelers and 500 three wheelers along with setting up of charging infrastructure across the city of Bengaluru as per approval received in response to the Expression of Interest by Department of Heavy Industries, Govt. of India under FAME India scheme,’’ said Minister for Large & Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development R.V. Deshpande in a statement.
The minister said under the scheme subsidy is provided to an extent of 60 per cent of purchase cost for Electric Buses, Rs.1.24 lakhs for every Electric four-wheeler and Rs. 61,000/- for every Electric three-wheeler and subsidy support is provided for charging infrastructure also by Govt. of India.
“This is a fillip in the State’s vision to transition to Electric Mobility in the State through public transport, with a pilot initially in Bengaluru in order to protect the environment, save fossil fuel, ensure public health and achieve sustainability goals,” he said.
