NEW DELHI:
The Ministry of Heavy Industries, in collaboration with FICCI, organized an all-stakeholder meeting aimed at exploring the challenges and opportunities encountered by domestic electric two-wheeler and three-wheeler original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) under the ongoing PM E-DRIVE initiative, which has a budget of Rs 10,900 crore and was launched last year.
The PM E-DRIVE scheme is designed to foster electric mobility across two-wheelers, three-wheelers, electric buses, electric trucks, and electric ambulances. In the two and three-wheeler categories as it aims to incentivize approximately 2.479 million electric two-wheelers (e-2Ws) and around 320,000 electric three-wheelers (e-3Ws), including registered e-rickshaws, e-carts, and L5 category vehicles.
During the event, Hanif Qureshi, Additional Secretary at MHI, engaged with prominent OEMs to pinpoint essential strategies for overcoming obstacles and unlocking growth opportunities within the electric vehicle (EV) sector.
Speaking about the all-stakeholder meet, He remarked that the gathering represents a crucial advancement in promoting electric mobility in India, as it united stakeholders to deliberate on the government’s dedication to accelerating the adoption of EVs through upfront purchase incentives.
The PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) Scheme, launched on September 29, 2024, is set to continue until March 31, 2026, with a focus on enhancing electric mobility in India.
Key highlights of the scheme include a strong emphasis on localization, mandating that battery packs, battery management systems (BMS), traction motors, and other critical EV components be produced domestically. Additionally, the scheme prohibits the importation of battery modules and certain electronic components.
To strengthen the EV ecosystem and establish a robust supply chain, the PM E-DRIVE initiative aims to promote further domestic manufacturing of DC-DC converters, motor controllers, and onboard chargers, thereby enhancing India’s electric vehicle landscape.
