Ampere CEO urges government to continue subsidy and incentivise EV industry

Hemalatha Annamalai, CEO and founder, Ampere Electric Vehicle and South Chapter Chief, SMEV, has said that the continuation of subsidy is vital to support the development of the electric vehicle market and for the manufacturing eco-system in India.

Hemalatha further stated that the industry needs a separate fund for continuous innovation, research and development in the area of advanced power electronics. 

The government of India, which had notified the FAME India Scheme (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India) for implementation with effect from April 1, 2015, extended it for two years. The scheme comes to an end on March 31, 2018.

Ampere EV''s CEO, who is also the member of the National Council for Electric Mobility, said,“The continuation of FAME India Scheme is vital for sustaining the ecosystem and for converting 30 percent of automobile fleet into EVs by 2030. The EV industry, which is still in the nascent stage, needs support to achieve the targeted number, which should be at least 1 percent of petrol two-wheelers, as a first step to make the EV proposition affordable with volume drivers.”

She further added,“The industry needs a separate fund for continuous innovation and R&D in the area of advanced power electronics, which are crucial as ‘electric’ vehicles will now transform into ‘electronic’ vehicles in the next three to five years. It will be a paradigm shift of a multi-fold disruption in business model, technology and application, transforming the entire mobility spectrum and its constituents.”

To enable this, she suggested that the Indian government bring back all the ‘power electronics' professionals and step up innovation suitable and relevant for Indian conditions.  

Hemalatha said she has observed that incentives to promote indigenous manufacturing under 'Make in India' for MSME sectors will foster job creation and help transform India into an EV export manufacturing hub. 

She concluded that there is also confusion as regards the customs duty on the import of auto components for EVs. The industry wants the duty to be made zero for sustained growth of the players until local manufacturing of key parts such as the motor, controller and charger is extensive. Besides, the industry must get the ‘priority lending’ facilities for all manufacturing companies and personal finance loans for all buyers at concessional rates.