What Is PM E-DRIVE: The Union Cabinet has approved a scheme for promotion of electric mobility in the country. The scheme has an outlay of Rs 10,900 crore over a period of two years. The Cabinet’s approval for ‘PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) Scheme’ was based on a proposal from the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI). Subsidies or demand incentives worth Rs 3,679 crore would be provided to incentivise 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, a release said.
The Ministry of Heavy Industries is introducing e-vouchers for EV buyers to avail of 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. This e-voucher will be signed by the buyer and submitted to the dealer to avail of 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 auto manufacturers 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 the government to promote the use of e-ambulance. A sum of Rs 4,391 crore has been provided for the procurement of 14,028 e-buses by 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.
While allocating buses to cities/states, first preference shall be given to those number of buses of cities/states, which are being procured after scrapping old buses, through authorized scrapping centers (RVSFs) following the MoRTH Vehicle Scrapping Scheme guidelines.
The trucks are a major contributor to air pollution. The scheme will promote the deployment of e-trucks in the country. Rs 500 crore has been allocated for incentivizing e-trucks.
Incentives will be given to those who have a scrapping certificate from MoRTH-approved vehicle scrapping centers (RVSF). The scheme addresses the range anxiety of EV buyers by promoting in a big way the installation of electric vehicle public charging stations (EVPCS).
These EVPCS shall be installed in the selected cities with high EV penetration and also on selected highways. The scheme proposes the installation of 22,100 fast chargers for e-4 Ws, 1800 fast chargers for e-buses, and 48,400 fast chargers for e-2W/3Ws. The outlay for EV PCS will be Rs 2,000 crore.