The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) for implementation of a scheme titled 'PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) Scheme' with an outlay of Rs. 10,900 crore over a period of two years.

Subsidies/Demand incentives worth Rs. 3,679 crore have been provided to incentivize e-2Ws, e-3Ws, e-ambulances, e-trucks and other emerging EVs. The scheme will support 24.79 lakh e-2Ws, 3.16 lakh e-3Ws, and 14,028 e-buses.

MHI is introducing e-vouchers for EV buyers to avail demand incentives under the scheme. At the time of purchase of the EV, the scheme portal will generate an Aadhaar authenticated e-Voucher for the buyer. A link to download the e- voucher shall be sent to the registered mobile number of the buyer.

This e-voucher will be signed by the buyer and submitted to the dealer to avail demand incentives under the scheme. Thereafter, the e-Voucher will also be signed by the dealer and uploaded on the PM E-DRIVE portal. The signed e-voucher shall be sent to the buyer and dealer through an SMS. The signed e-voucher will be essential for OEMs to claim reimbursement of demand incentives under the scheme.

The scheme allocates Rs. 500 crore for the deployment of e-ambulances. This is a new initiative of Government of India to promote the use of e-ambulance for a comfortable patient transport. The performance and safety standards of e-ambulances will be formulated in consultation with MoHFW, MoRTH and other relevant stakeholders.

A sum of Rs. 4,391 crore has been provided for procurement of 14,028 e-buses by STUs/public transport agencies. The demand aggregation will be done by CESL in the nine cities with more than 40 lakh population namely Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad. Intercity and Interstate e-buses will also be supported in consultation with states.

While allocating buses to cities/states, first preference shall be given to those number of buses of cities/states, which are being procured after scrapping old STU buses, through authorised scrapping centres (RVSFs) following the MoRTH Vehicle Scrapping Scheme guidelines.

The trucks are a major contributor to air pollution. The scheme will promote the deployment of e-trucks in the country. Rs. 500 crore has been allocated for incentivising e-trucks. Incentives will be given to those who have a scrapping certificate from MoRTH approved vehicles scrapping centres (RVSF).