FAME 3 is being formulated right now at a much more ambitious level, says Amitabh Kant 

G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant said that the FAME 3 is being formulated at a much more ambitious level. In a speech at the 63rd annual SIAM convention, he spoke about how the auto sector has collectively many schemes to bolster growth, taking the examples of PLI, FAME, etc.

Giving the breakup, he said that the PLI (Productiuon Linked Incentive) scheme had Rs 26,588 crore, ACCI, (PLI in the battery sector) is about Rs 18,100 crore, FAME2 was Rs 10,000 crore and the FAME 3 is being formulated at a much more ambitious level. The Prime Minister’s E-bus programme is Rs 20,000 crore for 10,000 buses. Of this, 5,500 buses have already been done, he said. 

Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) was first introduced in April 2015, and Phase II was launched in April 2019. It aimed to push the purchase of electric and hybrid vehicles by making them more affordable through financial support being offered under this subsidy scheme.

Autocar Professional had earlier learned from sources that the proposed FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles in India) 3 scheme would be almost 4-5 times bigger than the Rs 10,000 crore subsidy extended in FAME 2.

The new scheme is likely to have a sizable allocation for electric two-wheelers at about Rs 20,000 crore.

Focus on battery and electric manufacturing 

Kant further said that India had a massive opportunity for electric manufacturing. “We are the champion for 2-w and 3w, but he said that the market was shifting and it was important to understand that the world is going electric, and India has to go electric. China has demonstrated that already,” he said at the convention. 

He also urged the industry to think about how to create battery manufacturing capacity in India. “2W, 3W and 4Ws will all be battery-driven and we need to create the battery manufacturing capacity in India. That is why the PLI has been brought in, and all of you must seriously think of how we will do the battery manufacturing in India and the electric vehicle manufacturing,” he stated.