Govt to encourage faster adoption of electric vehicles

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said there will be a comprehensive restructuring of National Highways Programme to ensure the creation of National Highways Grid of desirable capacity.

Presenting the Budget for 2019-20, she said the government has already approved Rs 10,000 crore for FAME II scheme on April 1, 2019, to encourage faster adoption of electric vehicles by providing right incentives and charging infrastructure.

She also noted that the government has allocated Rs 350 crore towards interest subvention for MSMEs for 2019-20.

The finance minister said model tenancy law will be finalised and circulated to states.

Pension will be provided to 3 crore retail traders under Pradhan Mantri Karmyogi Mandhan scheme, Sitharaman said.