Bengaluru among 11 cities selected to promote electric vehicles

The Centre has selected 11 cities, including Bengaluru, in the country to promote electric vehicles in public transport system under the e-mobility project.

Under the project, named Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicles in India (FAME India), the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, is targeting a fully electric fleet for public transport, including buses, taxis and auto-rickshaws in these cities.

According to the scheme, the ministry will provide financial incentives to states for the  purchase of electric buses, three-wheelers, four-wheelers and for setting up charging infrastructure for public transport.  

Other cities selected for  the implementation of the scheme are Delhi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mumbai, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkata, Jammu and Guwahati.

The selected cities are required to finalise the tendering process for procuring buses and setting up  a charging infrastructure.

The ministry will spend about Rs 437 crore under FAME India scheme, which includes about Rs 40 crore for installation of charging infrastructure as incentives.

The minister said efforts  are being made to lower the cost olithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles.

According to the ministry, the subsidy to be provided to buses is in the range of Rs 75 lakh to Rs 1 crore, which is 60% of the cost.

For taxis, the subsidy amount is Rs 1.24 lakh which is 10-15% of its cost.