Facilities and Policy for Battery Powered Vehicles

In order to promote manufacturing and usage of electric and battery eco-friendly vehicles in the country, the Government launched the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) Scheme in 2015 on PAN India basis with an aim to reduce dependency on fossil fuel and to address issues of vehicular emissions. At present, Phase-II of FAME India Scheme is being implemented for a period of five years w.e.f. 01st April, 2019 with a total budgetary support of Rs. 10,000 crores. This phase focusses on supporting electrification of public & shared transportation.

Further, the steps taken by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways to adopt electric mobility in the country are as under:-

i. For promotion of electric vehicles, Government has notified GSR 167(E) dated 1st March 2019 for conversion through retro-fitment to pure electric and hybrid electric vehicles and their compliance shall be as per AIS 123.

ii. Further, the Government, vide S.O. 5333(E) dated 18th October, 2018, has also granted exemption to the Battery Operated Transport Vehicles and Transport Vehicles running on Ethanol and Methanol fuels from the requirements of permit.

iii. Government vide G.S.R 749(E) dated 7th August, 2018, has notified the registration mark for Battery Operated Transport Vehicles to be in Yellow colour on Green background and for all other cases, in White colour on Green background.

iv. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, vide GSR 525(E) dated 2nd August, 2021 has exempted Battery Operated Vehicles from the payment of fees for the purpose of issue or renewal of registration certificate and assignment of new registration mark.

v. Ministry has issued an advisory dated 17th July, 2019 to all States and Union Territories regarding incentivisation of electric vehicles and induction of electric vehicles in shared mobility and public transport operations.

vi. The Government has issued an advisory dated 12th August, 2020 to all States and UTs regarding sale and registration of Electric Vehicles without batteries.

vii. The Government has issued an advisory dated 16th June, 2021 to all States and UTs regarding promotion of battery operated vehicles.

The upfront cost of battery-operated vehicles is higher than the conventional vehicles. However, the operational cost of battery-operated vehicles is lower than the conventional vehicles. Therefore, the overall life time cost of the battery-operated vehicles is lower than the conventional vehicles. Battery-operated vehicles are being supported by way of demand incentives under FAME India Phase II to reduce the cost difference between the battery-operated vehicles and the conventional vehicles.

Under the Scheme for Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India Phase-II (FAME India Phase II) of the Ministry of Heavy Industries, 2877 public EV charging stations have been sanctioned in 68 cities and 1576 EV charging stations have been sanctioned across 9 Expressways and 16 Highways.

Under the FAME-India Scheme, incentives are provided to buyers of electric vehicles in the form of an upfront reduction in the purchase price of electric vehicles. The incentive is linked to battery capacity.

2. To facilitate the establishment of Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles following actions have been taken by the Government of India:-

i. FAME-India Scheme: Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) has launched Phase-II of FAME India Scheme which provides for INR 1000 Crores for installation of Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles.

ii. Guidelines and Standards: Revised consolidated Guidelines and Standards for Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles were issued by Ministry of Power.

This information was given by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on 4 August, 2022.