Under the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP), the government of India has allocated Rs. 1,000 crore to enhance electric vehicles sales.
The plan is declared for the next two financial years, commencing from April 1 of 2015.
The earmarked amount will be used for various efforts including establishment of charging infrastructure, technology development and incentives and pilot project.
“We have a road map till 2020 where we expect around 6-7 million electric and hybrid vehicles in the country,” explained, Ambuj Sharma, additional secretary, Ministry of Heavy Industries.
In September 2014, new ministry announced US$2.31 billion in incentives to manufacturers of electric vehicles.
NEMMP had to provide INR 140 billion (US$2.31 billion) as subsidies to electric vehicle manufacturers.
The previous government had introduced the NEMMP 2020 in 2013.
The aim of the NEMMP was to launch 6-7 million units of new electric vehicles in Indian roads, contributing to total fuel savings of 2.2 — 2.5 million tons at the cost of INR 400 billion by 2020.
Under the scheme, purchasers of electric cars were offered a subsidy of 20 percent.
The proposal was formulated to lower emission from vehicles and decrease carbon dioxide emissions by 1.3 per cent – 1.5 per cent in 2020.
According to the estimate, in a period of 5-6 years government needed to shed out Rs. 13,000 crore – Rs. 14,000 crore for R&D as well as development of facilities like charging infrastructure.
Until now, the penetration of electric vehicles in Indian market has been restricted to small Reva cars by Mahindra with a driving range of 25-50 km per charge and the average speed of 45 km per hour.
Sabeena Wahid
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