All clean mobility equal before PMO

EV cos averse to sharing sops; hybrid firms see space for both

- Manas Pimpalkhare & Utpal Bhaskar

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) believes the Centre needs to support all clean-fuel vehicles, including hybrids, even as a rift widens in the Indian auto industry over hybrids being put on par with pure electric vehicles (EVs).

The stand, confirmed by two top government officials, comes after makers of electric and hybrid vehicles sought the Centre's favour after several states proposed incentivizing electric, hybrid and CNG vehicles equally.

"I do not understand why there is so much lobbying. State policies may differ, but the central government has supported both EVs and hybrids in clean mobility schemes. It cannot be that you incentivize one and not the other. The idea is to help all forms and all clean fuels," one of the two officials said on the condition of anonymity.

The incentives for EVs and hybrids are aimed at reducing the country's fuel imports and carbon emissions. "All clean mobility initiatives which contribute to this have been incentivized so far, and will continue to be so," the second official said, also on the condition of anonymity.

Mint reported on 6 June, quoting Union heavy industries minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, that the government would continue to support all forms of clean mobility, including hybrid vehicles.

In the past too, the Centre supported hybrids and EVs alike in various subsidy schemes, including the second iteration of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India), which ran from 2018-19 to 2023-24.