50 Electric Buses launched in Delhi under FAME India Phase II scheme

FAME India Phase II scheme:

50 electric buses were launched in Delhi with support under the FAME India Phase II scheme of the Ministry of Heavy Industries. In 2019, the government approved Rs 10,000 crore for a period of three years. Out of total budgetary support, about 86 percent of the fund has been allocated for incentives so as to create demand for electric vehicles. Electric Vehicles are vehicles that are partially or fully powered on electric power. They have low running costs and are also very environmentally friendly as they use little or no fossil fuels (petrol or diesel). These vehicles can solve the problems of increasing pollution, global warming, depleting natural resources etc.

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Important facts:

• Union Heavy Industries Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey said that the government has placed an order for 3,538 electric buses. Of these, a total of 1,716 buses have been deployed so far.
• The Union Territory of Delhi had sanctioned 400 electric buses – 300 to the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) for intra-city operations and 100 to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for last-mile connectivity – in August 2019.
• A total of 250 buses have already been deployed by DTC and now the remaining 50 buses have been launched fulfilling MHI’s commitment of providing 300 electric buses to DTC.

FAME India Scheme:

• The Government formulated a Scheme namely FAME India (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles) in 2015, to improve the infrastructure required for the large-scale use of electric vehicles.
• Under this scheme, by the year 2022, 60-70 lakh hybrid and electric vehicles are targeted to be put on the roads across the country. This will reduce the consumption of about 950 crore litres of petrol and diesel, which will also save Rs 62 thousand crores spent on this.
• The main objective of this scheme is to reduce pollution and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Phase-II of FAME India Scheme is being implemented for a period of 3 years from April 1, 2019.
• The Phase-I of this Scheme was launched for a period of 2 years from 1st April 2015, which was extended from time to time and the last extension was allowed up to 31st March 2019.