SMEV offers last ditch solution to government to resolve fame 2 issue

In a final attempt to settle the contentious matter stemming from the Department of Heavy Industries’ notice directing 12 electric two-wheeler (e2W) companies to either repay the subsidy or face penal action, the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) has presented a two-pronged solution.

SMEV has urged the government to extend and defer the 50 per cent localisation deadline, originally set for 2021 as a prerequisite for accessing Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME-II) subsidies, to the third quarter of 2022, by when most players had already surpassed the 50 per cent localisation criteria.

Additionally, SMEV has proposed that if the department wishes to recover the disbursed subsidies, it should do so by