FAME II: 17 OEMs under scrutiny, 7 found violating norms, says government

New Delhi: The ministry of heavy industries has taken stringent actions against 17 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) receiving incentives under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) scheme phase-II, after complaints of non-compliance, minister of state for heavy industries Krishan Pal Gurjar said on Tuesday.

The complaints primarily pertained to PMP compliance and breach of ex-factory prices, leading to suspension of incentive payouts for those in question.

In a written reply given in Lok Sabha, the minister highlighted measures undertaken by the ministry to address concerns raised against the OEMs.

As part of the investigation, the disbursement of demand incentives was immediately halted, allowing the ministry to initiate a thorough examination of the complaints. To ensure impartiality and accuracy, the matter was subsequently referred to the testing agencies of the ministry for a detailed probe.

After the examination of reports from testing agencies for the alleged OEMs, it was found that six OEMs were fully PMP Compliant while other seven OEMs have found to be violating PMP norms.

Further, four OEMs have agreed to refund the excess amount for the breach of ex-factory price to customers/purchasers of electric vehicles (EVs).

The Centre had rolled out the FAME India Phase II scheme for five years starting 1 April 2019, with budgetary support of ₹10,000 crore. The phase mainly focuses on supporting electrification of public and shared transportation and aims to support through demand incentive 7,090 buses, 500,000 e-three-wheelers, 55,000 e-4 wheeler passenger cars and 1 million e-2 wheelers, along with the creation of charging infrastructure also supported under the scheme. The scheme has been extended till March 2024.

The Centre has also cut the subsidy per kilowatt hour (kWh) of battery capacity under FAME II, starting June.

The total amount allocated towards providing incentives for such eco-friendly vehicles has been raised to ₹3,500 crore from the current ₹2,000 crore, but the subsidy per kWh of battery capacity has been reduced from ₹15,000 to ₹10,000 per electric two-wheeler under the scheme.

According to the government, about 7,53,000 electric two-wheelers have been sold under phase II of the FAME India scheme as of 28 July.