According to reports, The Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles approaches the government for holding back incentives under the FAME II scheme.

Union Heavy Industries Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey in the Lok Sabha received complaints regarding embezzlement of subsidies under the FAME India Phase II scheme by some electric vehicles manufacturers; the industry body said the allegation is invalid in the context of the issue.

The government is probing 12 automakers, including Hero Electric and Okinawa Autotech, for alleged misappropriation of subsidies under the Rs. 10,000 crore FAME II scheme.

Ajay Sharma, Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) Secretary General says, “Due to the impact of COVID-19, the Phased Manufacturing Program (PMP) guidelines under FAME India Scheme Phase-II were expected to be revised but for various reasons were not modified in spite of clear indications that these could not be met.”

“Due to backlog and under-development of the EV ecosystem, ancillary component makers failed to meet the harsh targets of PMP both in quality as well as quantity terms,” Sharma adds.

At the same time, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) were allowed to run and sell with their vehicles and production verified as per the testing protocols under the scheme, while even giving them extensions in view of the delays at the supply chain.

Sharma says, “These extensions did not do much for the situation because of the underlying COVID impact on the market and production, which the policy and the department failed to address.”