FAME II sops: Govt to give Rs 500 crore to four e-scooter companies

With electric two-wheeler manufacturers agreeing to reimburse consumers for chargers, the government has decided to release over Rs 500 crore of subsidy under FAME II scheme to four companies — Ola Electric, Ather, TVS and Hero MotoCorp.Ola is in line to get the highest payout from the ministry of heavy industries, which will be to the tune of Rs 370 crore, followed by around Rs 275 crore for Ather. TVS is likely to get upwards of Rs 150 crore, while the subsidy bill to be settled for Hero MotoCorp will be Rs 28-30 crore, government sources told TOI.

The remaining amount, which adds up to Rs 288 crore, will be released once the companies submit details of the reimbursements made by them, the sources said. Ather has the highest amount of reimbursements to make, around Rs 140 crore to 95,000 buyers of Ather 450X model of electric two wheeler. Similarly, Ola has to clear a bill of around 130 crore to almost 1 lakh buyers of Ola S1Pro before the government releases the funds.

The government had announced the Rs 10,000-crore FAME II scheme a few years ago to promote electric vehicles, especially those used for public transport. The scheme, however, ran into trouble with the payment to the companies delayed in the wake of complaints. In this fiscal, the ministry is looking to settle bills of Rs 5,000 crore.

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