Context

• Centralized procurement of 5,450 electric buses and subsequent increase in ambition to have 50,000 e-buses on the country’s roads by 2030 under FAME scheme.
• With the shared aim to rapidly electrify a key pillar of India’s public transportation, recent governance efforts of Union and state governments have created a new business model for e-buses.

Status of State-owned buses

• Status: There are currently around 1,40,000 registered public buses on India’s roads.
• Condition: Large numbers of them having sputtering engines which emits planet-warming fumes into the atmosphere. At least 40,000 of these buses are at the end of their lifespan and must be taken off the roads
• Operators: Most buses are owned and operated by State transport undertakings, which are in poor financial health.
• Revenue loss: They incur large losses because of the subsidized fares to crores of Indians each day.
• Problem: problems of fragmented demand and high prices.
• Limitation: As State governments control issues such as transit, urban governance and pollution control so there’s a limitation for the nation-wide action on this issue.

What is FAME India scheme?

• The National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020: Is a National Mission document providing the vision and the roadmap for the faster adoption of electric vehicles and their manufacturing in the country.
• FAME: As part of the NEMMP 2020, Department of Heavy Industry formulated a Scheme viz. Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) Scheme in the year 2015 to promote manufacturing of electric and hybrid vehicle technology and to ensure sustainable growth of the same.
• FAME Phase-II: Government has approved Phase-II of FAME Scheme with an outlay of Rs. 10,000 Crore for a period of 3 years commencing from 1st April 2019.
• Out of total budgetary support, about 86 percent of fund has been allocated for Demand Incentive so as to create demand for EVs in the country.
• This phase aims to generate demand by way of supporting 7000 e-Buses, 5 lakh e-3 Wheelers, 55000 e-4 Wheeler Passenger Cars (including Strong Hybrid) and 10 lakh e-2 Wheelers. However, depending upon off-take of different category of EVs, these numbers may vary as the provision has been made for inter as well as intra segment wise f
• Incentives: Only advanced battery and registered vehicles will be incentivized under the scheme.
• Coverage: With greater emphasis on providing affordable & environment friendly public transportation options for the masses, scheme will be applicable mainly to vehicles used for public transport or those registered for commercial purposes in e-3W, e-4W and e-bus segments. However, privately owned registered e-2Ws are also covered under the scheme as a mass segment. 

Obstacles in electric vehicle mobility

   EV Cost and Battery cost:

• The cost is the most concerning point for an individual when it comes to buying an electric vehicle.
• However, there are many incentives given off by central and state governments. But the common condition in all policies is that the incentives are only applicable for up to a certain number of vehicles only and after removing the discount and incentives the same EV which was looking lucrative to buy suddenly becomes unaffordable

   Beta version of vehicles:

• Right now, both the technology and companies are new to the market and the products they are manufacturing are possibly facing real costumers for the first time.
• It’s nearly impossible to make such a complex product like an automobile perfect for the customers in the first go, and as expected the buyers faced many issues. Vehicles like RV400, EPluto 7G, Nexon all them has to update their vehicle up to a very high extent after customer feedback and reviews.

   Poor Infrastructure and range anxiety:

• Poor infrastructure is among the most pressing issue among people thinking to opt for electric vehicles.
• Poor infra doesn’t only include a lack of charging stations but also the lack of proper charging set up in their home.

 No Universal charger and Ecosystem (Lack of standardization):

• Every second electric vehicle-making company has its own different charging port which is becoming a hurdle to setting up a proper charging ecosystem.
• Also, many EV users complained about facing moral trouble for charging their vehicle in different EV-making Company’s charging stations which can impact the growth of the EV industry.

   Temperature Issues:

• Temperature can affect the performance of an EV battery at a large extent which makes EV’s inappropriate for too cold (Uttarakhand, Meghalaya) or too hot regions like (Rajasthan, Kerala). The battery can give its ideal performance when it’s in use under the temperature range of 15-40 degrees.

   Environmental concerns:

• The EV revolution is necessary for the most populated and polluted parts of India like Delhi, Mumbai, etc. but in such cities the major chunk of electricity is generated through burning fossil fuels which are equivalent to spreading the pollution through the ICE vehicle smoke, even most of the charging stations are reportedly operating upon diesel-driven electricity generator.

Way ahead

• With anything new, there will always be challenges.
• The EV industry is still in a nascent stage in India but developing at a rapid pace. Catching up to speed are the infrastructure requirements to support the EV demand.
• Even with the current challenges, electric vehicles present huge potential to reduce our carbon footprints and provide a cost-effective system of transportation.
• And one way to contribute towards this growth is to buy an electric vehicle.

Mains Question

Q. What do you understand by FAME India scheme? How it will help tackling climate change? What are the obstacles in implementation of this scheme?

UPSC 2023 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now