Around Rs 10,900 crore will be allocated for PM E-DRIVE and around Rs 3,435 crore will be allocated for PSM. Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that PM E-DRIVE can be very helpful in reducing pollution. Under this scheme, subsidy/demand incentives worth Rs 3,679 crore will be made available for electric two-wheelers, electric three-wheelers, electric ambulances and electric trucks. This scheme will help in purchasing 24.79 lakh electric two-wheelers, about 3.16 lakh electric three-wheelers and 14,028 electric buses.
An official press release states that under this scheme, the Ministry of Heavy Industries will launch e-vouchers to provide demand incentives to EV buyers. On purchasing an EV, an e-voucher will be generated for the buyer on the portal of this scheme. About Rs 500 crore has been allocated for electric ambulances under PM E-DRIVE. This is an effort to promote the use of electric ambulances for comfortable transportation of patients. The performance and safety parameters of the electric ambulance will also be discussed with stakeholders.
Apart from this, Rs 4,391 crore will be made available for the purchase of electric buses by the state transport corporations and public transport agencies. For this, CESL will assess the demand in big cities with population of more than 40 lakh. These cities include Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Surat, Ahmedabad, Pune and Hyderabad. The major reasons for the spread of pollution include trucks running on diesel. Funds have also been made available under this scheme to promote electric trucks. The government plans to rapidly increase the share of EVs in total automobile sales by 2030. The number of electric cars has increased significantly in the last few years.
