PremiumNEW DELHI: As part of the strategy to popularise green mobility in the country, a total of 1,590 electric vehicles (EVs) have been deployed in 160 central and state ministries and departments across 49 cities, minister of state for heavy industries Krishan Pal Gurjar said in a reply in Rajya Sabha today.
This comes in the backdrop of state-run Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) aimi to have 200,000 two-wheeled EVs and 300,000 three-wheeled EVs across India, with the government allotting the demand aggregation of electric three-wheeler and electric bus component to CESL’s parent firm EESL under the ₹10,000 crore Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (Fame) scheme.
“These e-cars are being given on lease/outright purchase basis to replace the existing petrol and diesel vehicles taken on lease earlier," the ministry said in a statement.
In the largest such global tender state-run Energy Efficiency Services Ltd's subsidiary CESL on Friday called bids for procurement of 100,000 electric three wheelers with an estimated cost of Rs3000 crore.
“EESL/CESL is also developing Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure and has signed MoUs with multiple stakeholders across municipalities, DISCOMs for location assessment study and setting up of charging infrastructures in their jurisdiction location. As on date EESL/CESL has installed 301 nos. of EV chargers across India," the statement said.
Centre’s FAME scheme is designed to support electrification of public and shared transport and help create charging infrastructure. It is an important part of the government’s strategy to reduce vehicular emissions and dependence on fossil fuel.
“Based on outcome and experience gained during Phase-I of FAME India Scheme and after having consultations with all stakeholders, including Industry and Industry Associations, the government notified Phase-II of FAME India Scheme for a period of three years commencing from 1st Apri1, 2019 with a total budgetary support of Rs10,000 crore," the statement said.
The scheme’s first phase began on 1 April 2015, and was extended till 31 March 2019, and the second phase (Fame-2) that began on 1 April 2019 was to end on 31 March 2022. However, the scheme has failed to take off, with only 5%, or ₹492 crore, of the ₹10,000 crore allocated under its second phase spent till March. Funds allocated under Fame-2 is to be spent to subsidize 500,000 electric three-wheelers, 1 million electric two-wheelers, 55,000 electric passenger vehicles and 7,090 electric buses.
“Thirteen states of Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Gujarat and West Bengal have approved/notified dedicated electric vehicles (EV) policies to promote adoption of electric vehicles," the statement added.
