Hero Electric, Okinawa among 7 EV companies facing govt action for wrongfully claiming subsidies

Rs 500 crore to be recovered from seven EV makers 

The Indian Government has sent out notices to seven OEM EV makers namely Hero Electric, Okinawa Autotech, Ampere EV, Revolt Motors, Benling India, Lohia Auto and AMO Mobility for wrongfully claiming FAME II subsidy incentives. The step was taken by the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) after whistleblowers alleged that EV manufacturing companies have violated local sourcing which was a pre-requisite to qualify for the FAME II incentives.

The Government has suspended subsidies worth Rs 1,400 crore – Rs 1,500 crore to 13 EV makers which have not yet been able to match the Government’s criteria. The MHI is also looking into processing payment of incentives to the company which has been given a clean chit. The Government received 10,50,000 claims for incentives on electric two-wheelers out of which 4,00,000 claims have been rejected. 

Recently, the Indian Government rejigged the FAME II subsidy norms. Under the new guidelines, the incentives were reduced to Rs 10,000 per kWh and were capped at 15 percent of the total value of the EV. This has led to EV makers like Ola Electric, Ather Energy, TVS, and Vida to hike prices on their EV offerings.