Budget 2024 unlikely to launch FAME-III: HD Kumaraswamy

FAME-III is unlikely to be included in Budget 2024 for FY25, which will be presented on July 23, though the scheme will be launched soon, Minister of Heavy Industries and Steel, H D Kumaraswamy, told the press at an event organised by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, or SIAM, on Tuesday.

FAME-III refers to the upcoming phase three of India’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme, which aims at promoting electric vehicles, or EVs, in the country through incentives.

On Tuesday, when asked if FAME-III would be introduced in the upcoming Budget, Kumaraswamy replied that the scheme was still “in the final stages”.

“Preparatory work is on. All seven ministries have recommended how to frame the programme. In some future month — days — we are going to implement it,” the minister pointed out.

Thesquirrels had reported in May how FAME-III is the Modi government’s ambitious plan to carry forward the incentive programme for EVs with an allocated budget of Rs 10,000 crore. FAME-III will act as a follow-up of FAME-II, which ended on March 31 2024. Earlier, the FAME-I scheme was introduced in 2015 and ran till 2019 with a total outlay of Rs 895 crore.

FAME-III will grant monetary incentive to buyers of electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers, besides electric buses owned by the government.

Manufacturers who want to avail incentives on EV sales would need fresh certification, what with the government updating guidelines under FAME-III. Certification according to FAME-III would be valid for two years as far as the period for sales is concerned, compared to the five-year validity under FAME-II.

In the Interim Budget, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had allocated Rs 2,671.33 crore for the FAME scheme. Sitharaman will present the Union Budget for the fiscal year 2024-’25, or FY25, on July 23 in Parliament.