NEW DELHI: The government on Friday launched a scheme to provide financial incentives for electric truck manufacturers under the PM E-DRIVE Scheme with an outlay of Rs 500 crore. The incentive will be available to buyers of e-trucks against scrapping of existing non-EV trucks.
Under the scheme, buyers of e-trucks above 3.5 tonnes up to 55 tonnes will be eligible for incentives from Rs 2.7 lakh to a maximum of Rs 9.6 lakh.
According to the ministry officials even new buyers of e-trucks can avail the scheme provided they buy scrapping certificates from the market. The certificate is provided by the registered vehicle scrapper. The eligibility of the certificate is checked. If the person is eligible, he can then add buyer details, vehicle details, and proceed with Aadhaar-based authentication. After that, an SMS is sent to the buyer, and the process can be initiated.
The scheme is likely to support deployment of 5,600 e-trucks across the country. Out of those, 1100 e-trucks will be registered in Delhi.
Speaking on the scheme, minister of heavy industries HD Kumaraswamy said this is the first customer-facing electric truck scheme, which means it directly incentivises customers to buy electric trucks, unlike the PLI auto scheme, which benefits manufacturers.
He said that the ministry has identified ports, cement, steel, and logistics sectors as the early adopter electric trucks. The minister said that the chairman of SAIL has offered to purchase 150 electric trucks initially.
According to the minister, several original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have already started manufacturing electric trucks in India, including Ashok Leyland, Electra Greentech, Propel, Tata Motors, and IPLT Demo. Manufacturers will also be required to ensure minimum quality standards for batteries, motors, and vehicles, as per industry norms after stakeholder consultations.
An important component of the scheme is promoting Make-in-India. The phased manufacturing program (PMP) of the ministry limits imported components and requires most sourcing to be done from India.