Govt extends subsidy for electric vehicles

India increased state support to the production of electric and hybrid cars by 42 per cent in the Budget, underscoring the government’s intent to improve air quality in a nation that is home to some of the world’s most polluted urban centers. While there was no specific mention of cleaner cars by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget speech, that a government programme promoting electric vehicles got both a time extension and bigger funds. The programme on Faster Adoption of Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles, which goes by the acronym FAME, got Rs 175 crore for FY-18 versus Rs 123 crore in FY-17. When the policy was announced in FY-15, the government had allocated Rs 75 crore: The support has been increasing to reflect growing industry interest.