Electric Vehicle makers, who were benefitting from the Centre's FAME-II subsidies, now withheld for 'non-compliance' are likely to move the court in the matter, according to a report by The Economic Times.
To avail subsidies under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles in India Phase-II (FAME-II) scheme, EV makers have to check several boxes, such as localisation of manufacturing parts and caps on retail prices of beneficiary vehicles. However, several EV companies allegedly imported several components, claiming they were locally made to get subsidies. After this, the government withheld the benefits of around 13 companies including Hero and Okinawa, the report said.
According to the companies, the Centre's timeline to localise auto parts was difficult to achieve due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Companies could argue that there was no mention in the scheme of a minimum amount of value-addition to a part for it to be considered locally sourced. The accused manufacturers had routed imported parts through local vendors who did basic assembly operations," one of the lawyers advising these companies told the publication.
Another lawyer said that certain auto parts that were imported are not available locally and hence the government must look at the issue 'pragmatically'.
(Published 14 March 2023, 12:07 IST)
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