NEW DELHI: The Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) in a petition written to the Parliamentary Standing Committees on Industry and Estimates said unpaid subsidies are killing the electric vehicle (EV) revolution.
EV sales have hit a road bump in recent months after the government started holding up subsidies, now worth Rs 1200 crore, to manufacturers over allegations of violations of norms, mostly relating to importing components from China. SMEV had last week said that in FY23 electric 2W adoption ended “with an annual shortfall of more than 25% over the minimum target set by Niti Aayog and various research organisations”.
“Now that the country is almost ready with the entire supply chain, the only thing holding up the sector is the Rs 1200 Crore worth of subsidies that have been withheld leading to a serious liquidity crisis in the industry,” said SMEV in its letter. The letter noted that current trends are showing a slowing down of EV adoption due to the financial stress for the industry, which has been besieged by irritants designed to disturb the momentum of FAME 2.
SMEV also alleges FAME 2 subsidy program has been delayed by ‘fake’ emails. The basis of the delay has been proven to be mischievous emails alleging non-adherence to policy norms as regards localization targets.