Industry experts at the 7th edition of ETAuto EV Conclave 2023 acknowledged the growth of the nascent industry in the country while stating that extended subsidies may help in sustainable growth.
Naveen Munjal, MD, Hero electric said that the electric two wheeler industry has already hit the hockey stick growth this year. However, for further push in the industry, there is a need for adequate infrastructure, financing of EVs, unidirectional policy, concrete deadline of reaching EV targets and reskilling the workforce.
Subsidy should be milestone based. Eventually, businesses should make sense for themselves, he said.
Jyoti Malhotra, Managing Director, Volvo Car India said, “Continuity and certainty of FAME policy is needed.”
According to Nishant Arya, Vice Chairman, JBM Group, the EV industry has reached price parity in the bus segment. However he believes that the subsidy is needed for at least 3 more years for sustainable growth.
Last month, industry body Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) also sought extension of subsidies for EVs under the FAME II scheme as part of its expectations from the Budget.
However, as part of the earlier announced INR 10,000 crore outlay, the union Budget 2023 just doubled the allocation for FAME-2 scheme for FY24.
Fame-II was launched under the National Mission for Clean Mobility to generate demand for hybrid and electric vehicles by way of supporting 7000 e-Buses, 5 lakh e-3-wheelers, 55000 e-4-wheeler passenger cars (including strong hybrid) and 10 lakh e-2-wheelers. According to available data, so far only 76008 vehicles have been sold under the scheme.
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Gadkari said about 900,000 government vehicles would be replaced by electric or alternative fuel vehicles to reduce the country’s crude oil import bill as well as cut down on pollution.