Electric Vehicles and Alternative Powertrains

This note covers India's EV policy schemes and charging infrastructure. Vehicle-type classification (HEV/PHEV/BEV) and battery chemistry are covered in Battery Technologies and Energy Storage.

FAME and PM E-DRIVE are two separate schemes, not one renamed

FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles) was India's original scheme supporting EV adoption. FAME India Phase II ran from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2024, with a total budgetary support of Rs 11,500 crore, providing demand incentives for electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers and four-wheelers, plus grants for electric buses and public charging stations. It supported the sale of roughly 16.72 lakh electric vehicles across those categories.

PM E-DRIVE (PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement) is a genuinely separate, successor scheme, notified on 29 September 2024, running until 31 March 2026, with an outlay of Rs 10,900 crore. It covers electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers, trucks and ambulances, again with grants for e-buses and public charging infrastructure. Treating PM E-DRIVE as simply "FAME renamed" is the standard mistake: they are two distinct schemes with different notification dates, different outlays, and slightly different vehicle categories covered, even though they serve the same broad policy goal in immediate succession.

Charging infrastructure gets its own dedicated funding

Vehicle purchase incentives are only half of what these schemes fund; charging infrastructure is funded as its own explicit line item, because an EV is only as useful as the charging network available to it. Under PM E-DRIVE, Rs 2,000 crore is specifically allocated for deploying EV public charging stations nationwide. Under FAME II, 9,583 EV public charging stations were installed over the scheme's life, with a further Rs 73.50 crore sanctioned separately in March 2024 for public fast-charging stations specifically, distinguished from ordinary slower charging points because a fast-charging network is what makes longer-distance EV travel practical rather than only short daily commuting.

E-buses: a distinct, large-scale component

Electric buses are funded as their own substantial component within these schemes rather than being treated as just another vehicle category, given the scale of public transport's own contribution to overall emissions. An allocation of Rs 4,391 crore has been made for deploying 14,028 e-buses, with 14,000 of those already allocated to specific operators, making bus electrification one of the largest single line items within the overall EV policy push.

Quick revision points

• FAME India Phase II: 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2024, Rs 11,500 crore, ~16.72 lakh EVs supported (2W/3W/4W plus e-buses and charging stations).
• PM E-DRIVE: a genuinely SEPARATE successor scheme, notified 29 September 2024, running to 31 March 2026, Rs 10,900 crore, covering 2W/3W/e-trucks/e-ambulances plus e-buses and charging infrastructure. Not "FAME renamed"; different dates, outlay and vehicle categories.
• Charging infrastructure is separately funded: Rs 2,000 crore under PM E-DRIVE for public charging stations; 9,583 stations installed under FAME II, plus a separate Rs 73.50 crore specifically for public fast-charging stations.
• E-buses: Rs 4,391 crore allocated for 14,028 buses, a major standalone component of the overall EV push.