EV manufacturers deliberately violated FAME-2 subsidy scheme, government panel's investigation revealed

EV Subsidy: A high-level government panel constituted by the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI), Government of India, has found that vehicle companies knowingly violated the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles in India (FAME-2) Violated the guidelines.

Mon, 20 May 2024 02:39 PM (IST)
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EV manufacturers deliberately violated FAME-2 subsidy scheme, government panel's investigation revealed

The Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles in India (FAME-2) guidelines were willfully broken, according to a high-level government panel set up by the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI), Government of India. did. But these regulations were unambiguous. Early in May 2024, the panel is expected to deliver its conclusions. According to a media report, the report disputes the conclusions of a previous inquiry conducted by the MHI's joint secretary. In which it was claimed that the FAME scheme lacked clear definitions for a few crucial terms.

This panel was constituted by the Additional Secretary to investigate the FAME-2 scheme scam. The incident comes at a time when, several months ago, MHI had directed 13 electric vehicle manufacturers to return the amount of subsidy improperly claimed under the FAME-2 scheme.

These electric vehicle manufacturers included six major brands including Hero Electric, Okinawa Autotech, Ampere Vehicles, Benling India, Revolt Intellicorp, and Amo Mobility. Who was found guilty of using imported products and taking advantage of subsidies. Which was a violation of phased manufacturing guidelines. Because of this, these companies have been asked to repay approximately Rs 469 crore.

The report quoted a government official as saying that the committee has been investigating the matter for some time. The official reportedly said that as per the first part of the report submitted after examining all the notifications and guidelines, the concerned testing agencies as well as officials of the auto section of the MHI, have concluded that the scheme notification and guidelines are clearly were and were well understood by all concerned stakeholders, testing agencies, vehicle manufacturing companies and MHI.

The panel reportedly said that on the issue of localization requirements, the timeline for localization was determined after due consultation with all stakeholders in the industry, including industry players and testing agencies.

In April 2023, MHI opened an investigation to look into possible FAME scheme subsidy violations. To look into the role of government officials and procedural errors. As a result, the amount of the subsidy was dispersed among the manufacturers of electric vehicles incorrectly.

Muskan Kumawat Journalist & Writer