Govt sanctions 670 electric buses, 241 charging stations under FAME scheme

The central government on Friday said it has sanctioned 670 electric buses for Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, and Chandigarh and 241 charging stations in Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat, and Port Blair under Phase-II of the FAME India Scheme.

Union Heavy Industries Minister Prakash Javadekar said the decision reflects the Centre's commitment to reduce dependence on fossil fuel and address the issues of vehicular emissions, and is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for eco-friendly public transportation.

"This is a good start, these e-buses, e-rickshaws and e-scooties as well as e-cars for city use are the best way forward for environment friendly transport," Javadekar said.

In a series of tweets, the minister informed that 25 charging stations have been sanctioned in Kollam, 27 in Thiruvananthapuram, and 28 in Malappuram (all in Kerala). Besides, 10 charging stations have been sanctioned in Port Blair and 25 in Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu.

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Javadekar said the setting up of charging stations is a key infrastructure necessity to promote Electric Vehicles.

"Already 450 buses are plying in various cities. Now 670 e-buses are sanctioned. Maharashtra has got 240, Gujarat has got 250, Goa has got 100, and Chandigarh has got 80. Kerala and other states have also got e-charging stations because all those corporations who are completing the formalities, we are sanctioning e-buses for them," said the minister.

The Department of Heavy Industries under the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, is administering the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) Scheme since April 2015 to promote adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles (xEVs) in India.

At present, Phase-II of FAME India Scheme is being implemented for a period of three years with effect from April 1, 2019 with a total budgetary support of Rs 10,000 crore.

This phase focuses on supporting electrification of public and shared transportation and aims to support, through subsidies, approximately 7,000 e-buses, five lakh e-3 wheelers, 55,000 e-4 wheeler passenger cars, and 10 lakh e-2 wheelers.

In the first phase of the scheme up to March 31, 2019, about 2,80,987 hybrid and electric vehicles were supported by way of demand incentive, amounting to about Rs 359 crore.

Further, the department has sanctioned 425 electric and hybrid buses to various cities in the country at a total cost of about Rs 280 crore. It had also sanctioned 520 charging stations for about Rs 43 crore in cities like Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Delhi-NCR under Phase-I of FAME-India Scheme.