Electric vehicle subsidy: Union Heavy Industries Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy said on Thursday that electric two-wheeler buyers can avail subsidy of up to Rs 10,000 in the first year of PM E-Drive scheme. The scheme will be launched soon.
Kumaraswamy said that under PM E-Drive scheme for electric two-wheelers, a subsidy of Rs 5,000 per kilowatt hour has been fixed on the basis of battery ‘power’. However, the total subsidy in the first year will not exceed Rs 10,000. In the second year, this subsidy will be halved to Rs 2,500 per kilowatt hour and the total benefits will not exceed Rs 5,000.
Three-wheeler buyers will get subsidy of up to Rs 25,000 in the first year
Kumaraswamy said that e-rickshaw buyers can avail subsidy of Rs 25,000 in the first year and Rs 12,500 in the second year under the PM E-Drive scheme.
The minister said, “The subsidy per kilowatt for electric two-wheelers is Rs 5,000 in the first year and Rs 2,500 in the second year. This benefit will continue for two years.
He clarified that the maximum benefit on each two-wheeler will be Rs 10,000 per vehicle in the first year and it will be reduced to Rs 5,000 in the second year.
Subsidy of up to Rs 50,000 will be available for these vehicles in the first year
At present, the battery capacity of electric scooters of companies like Ola, TVS, Ather Energy, Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj ranges from 2.88 kWh (kilowatt hour) to 4 kWh. These cost between Rs 90,000 and Rs 1.5 lakh.
For other three-wheelers, including e-rickshaws, in the first year, they will get a benefit of Rs 25,000 and in the second year, it will come down to Rs 12,500 per vehicle Kumaraswamy said.
For L5 category (goods carrying three-wheelers), they will get a benefit of Rs 50,000 in the first year and in the second year, it will come down to Rs 25,000, the Union minister said.