Working towards the government's electric mobility expansion plan, the Indian Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Mr Anant Geete announced that the Central Government will provide INR 437 crore (approximately $68.5 million) subsidy to 11 cities under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicle (FAME, Phase I) plan within the broader Clean India Mission. The move will support the launch of public electric buses, taxis and three-wheelers in 11 cities. The cities include Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Jaipur, Mumbai, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Indore and Kolkata, plus two cities – Jammu and Guwahati under special category.
The number of buses and taxis allotted to each city will be based on their demand. The investment will also encourage OEMs to invest more on the electric vehicle segment. Earlier in 2017, Government owned Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) had floated a tender to procure 10,000 electric cars which was seized by Tata Motors and Mahindra.
The selected cities are required to finalize the tendering process and issue supply orders before 28th February 2018.