On Thursday, the Association of Electric Vehicle Manufacturers slammed the government’s incentives to block the FAME II program.
Responding to Union Heavy Industries Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey’s reply in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, the industry body said the ministry had received complaints about misappropriation of subsidies from the FAME India II scheme by some EV makers. “Invalid in the context of the current question.”
The government is investigating 12 automakers, including Hero Electric and Okinawa Autotech, for alleged misappropriation of subsidies. ¥10,000 million FAME II plan.
Also read: Hero Electric, Okinawa, 12 EV makers under scan for misappropriating FAME subsidies
In a statement, Ajay Sharma, secretary-general of the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV), said that due to the impact of Covid-19, the phased manufacturing program (PMP) guidelines under the second phase of the FAME India scheme are expected to be revised, but for various There was no reason for the amendment “despite clear indications that these could not be met”.
He further said that due to the backlog and underdevelopment of the EV ecosystem, ancillary component makers have failed to meet the “demanding targets of the PMP” in terms of quality and quantity.
Meanwhile, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) can operate and sell with their vehicles and production validated under the testing protocol under the scheme, while even extending their production time given supply chain delays.
“With the potential impact of COVID on markets and production, policy and sectoral failure to address these issues, these deferrals do not help the situation much,” Sharma said, adding that, however, OEMs are shifting subsidies from their own Customers pass on funds to customers for more than a year.
“If there is any misappropriation, it is in ¥The department has withheld Rs 1,100 crore owed to OEMs in lieu of the said disbursement,” he said.
Sharma further said that if there is any misappropriation, “it’s a policy against the supply chain, it can’t deal with unrealistic specifications. OEMs don’t run supply chains.”
Moreover, he said, “if there is any misappropriation, it is in the hands of the customers who bought these electric scooters and provided these subsidies as ordered by the department.”
Under the scheme, electric two-wheeler makers must localize at least 50 percent of their components to qualify for the subsidy.
On Tuesday, Pandey had said that the complaints received by the government were mostly related to violations of Phased Manufacturing Program (PMP) guidelines and had been forwarded to the testing agency for re-validation.
He had said that after that, as far as the two OEMs were concerned, their models had been suspended from the FAME program and they had stopped processing their pending claims until they submitted sufficient evidence that they were adhering to the PMP timeline.
Other OEMs that have received complaints include Benling India Energy and Technology; Okaya EV; Jitendra Electric Vehicle New Technology; Greaves Electric Mobility (formerly Ampere Vehicles Private Limited); Defiant Intelligence; Kinetic Green Energy and Power Solutions; Bicycles; Leya Motor Industries; Thukral Electric Bicycles; and Victory Electric Vehicle International.
First published date: Dec 23, 2022 at 08:44 AM CST
https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/electric-vehicles/indian-companies-not-misusing-subsidies-under-fame-scheme-says-ev-body-41671764849365.html