India’s cabinet has approved a 109 billion rupee ($1.3 billion) scheme to incentivize the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) as part of its ongoing efforts to reduce pollution and transition to cleaner fuels.
The initiative, named the PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE), aims to promote the use of e-two wheelers, e-three wheelers, e-ambulances, and e-trucks, Information Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced on Wednesday.
The scheme will provide 36.79 billion rupees in subsidies, with a first-time allocation of 5 billion rupees for the deployment of e-ambulances and another 5 billion rupees for the replacement of old polluting trucks with electric alternatives. The government will also offer additional incentives to encourage the scrapping of old trucks, which contribute significantly to air pollution.
Although EV adoption remains relatively low in India, it is gaining momentum as the government promotes clean energy and encourages local manufacturing of electric vehicles and their components. Public transport will receive a major boost as well, with 43.91 billion rupees allocated for the purchase of 14,028 electric buses for use by public transport agencies.
India’s Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has urged automakers to establish vehicle scrapping centers, which could help boost vehicle sales by 18-20% while removing older, polluting vehicles from the roads. Currently, electric vehicles account for less than 2% of the 4.2 million cars sold annually in India, but the government aims to increase this to 30% by 2030.
The PM E-DRIVE scheme also emphasizes the expansion of EV charging infrastructure and the promotion of new technologies to accelerate EV adoption. “The main aim is to expedite the adoption of EVs by providing upfront incentives and establishing essential charging infrastructure,” the government said in a statement.
