PM Modi likely to announce road map for electric mobility this week

Electric vehicles could soon get a much-needed policy push with Prime Minister, Narendra Modi expected to announce a road map for e-mobility at a global transport summit on September 7 in New Delhi.

According to officials and people in the know, Modi could reveal details of the second phase of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric (FAME) scheme including a road map for charging infrastructure, subsidy available under the second phase, and the likely rollout date among others.

“He (the Prime Minister) will basically announce the salient points of the policy… He could talk about the number of charging stations that the government plans to set up, the Rs 5,500 crore subsidy scheme could be discussed, waiver of permits for e-rickshaws and lower age of 16 years for obtaining licences for e-scooter, exemption of toll for e-vehicles and easy registration of electric cars…things like these with an overall monetary component could be expected,” said an official on condition of anonymity.

The MOVE Global Summit is being organised by government’s think tank National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog on September 7-8, 2018.

The two-day conclave will bring together experts involved in the sphere of electric mobility including startups, academicians, corporations, policy analysts, NGOs and the government, as well as the civil society, to discuss about the mobility landscape, future possibilities and the country's preparedness for meeting the opportunities and challenges.

Also read: Exclusive | India moves closer to electric-powered public transport; Fin Min approves Rs 3.5K cr for 10 cities

“By partnering with organisations working in the mobility space across the country and the globe, we will be better prepared to formulate India’s go forward strategy on mobility, and leapfrog in to the frontlines of mobility space. The summit will also enable India to learn from development in other countries”, Rajiv Kumar, vice chairman, NITI Aayog had told reporters.

Kumar had said that “during or soon after the summit, a policy announcement on electric vehicles can be expected” from the government.

“We want to start a new paradigm of electric mobility through this summit where we will push the policy forward. Not just in Centre but also in states,” said Kumar.

Officials have said that around 15-20 states have submitted their respective proposals on how they will push electric mobility in their territory.

The focus towards electric mobility has gained attention after it was noted that world’s 14 out of 20 most polluted cities, in terms of 2.5 PM, are in India. Most of them include cities in the northern belt including Delhi, Varanasi, Kanpur, Faridabad, Lucknow, Gaya, Agra, Jaipur, Patiala and Jodhpur.

It is being anticipated that the second phase of FAME scheme, which will provide Rs 4,500 crore as subsidies to vehicles across all segments, will be implemented in a phased manner. The implementation could begin with these cities, gradually moving towards cities with million plus population and eventually covering the entire country.

Also read: Electric vehicles: Government raises incentives under FAME-II to Rs 5,500 crore

Under the second phase of FAME, a subsidy of Rs 10,000 per kWh for two/four wheelers and Rs 20,000 per kWh for buses will be provided. The Centre has earmarked about Rs 450 crore for high speed two-wheelers, Rs 300 crore for low speed two-wheelers, Rs 100 crore for light commercial vehicles and Rs 2,500 crore for buses.

“The amount is more than enough… During the last three years, about 1.14 lakh cars received subsidy under FAME-I which totaled up to Rs 142 crore,” said a person aware of the development adding that, “even if 30,000 units of lithium-ion battery powered cars are sold this year, about Rs 45 crore will be spent (taking average battery pack of 1.5 kWh)… Thus, it is more than enough”.

A rapid scale up in charging infrastructure is also expected after the policy announcement.

Under FAME-II, government has allocated close to Rs 1,000 crore for setting up such stations against a previous allocation of Rs 50 crore.

According to a report released by industry body Ficci and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), “ubiquitous EV charging infrastructure will help create virtuous cycles of adoption: higher deployment and utilization of charging infrastructure will create economies of scale in manufacturing and new markets for the grid services that EVs can provide, leading to even higher deployment and utilization rates… The deployment and scaling of EV charging infrastructure in India will be a monumental undertaking given India’s size, complex policy and regulatory environment, and weak electricity distribution infrastructure”.

Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), a state-run energy efficiency agency, will set up 2,000 charging stations across country in a phased manner. Presently, EESL has put in place about 125 charging stations in Delhi-NCR, of which, 90 are AC chargers and 35 are DC chargers.

It is expected that two major pillars for Modi’s speech could be scaling up charging infrastructure and pushing EVs through public transport.

According to a report, said to be considered by the Government, state governments and municipal corporations could be entrusted with the task to develop “area specific transport system, promoting walking/cycling as mode of transport and promote electric public transport”.

“There could be some mandates for EV makers, some areas could be identified for running only electric vehicles and aggregators will be mandated to have 10 percent fleet as electric,” said another person aware of the development.

According to media reports, Centre could also throw a “100-day global challenge to automakers for setting up manufacturing facilities for e-vehicles, batteries and charging infrastructure in India”.

Budget for FAME scheme has gradually been increased from Rs 144 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 235 crore in 2017-18. For FY19, Rs 260 crore has been allocated.