FAME II subsidy: Ampere reduces prices of its electric two-wheelers

After the Centre decided to increase subsidy on electric two-wheelers in India under the FAME II scheme, several EV makers have started to revise prices of their vehicles. Greaves Cotton's e-mobility arm Ampere Vehicles joined the list on Friday. It announced reduction in prices of its scooters by up to ₹9,000.

Ampere has announced that the revised price of its Zeal model will now be ₹59,990 (ex-showroom Bengaluru) against ₹68,990 earlier. The Magnus Pro model will now cost ₹65,990 (ex-showroom Bengaluru), down from ₹74,990 previously after the revised FAME II subsidies.

Roy Kurian, chief operating officer for e-mobility business (two-and three-wheelers) at Ampere Electric, said, "With significant subsidy revision in FAME-II policy, the scheme makes EV (electric vehicle) affordable, as more and more customers can now go for it."

Previously, Ather Energy was the first to reduce the prices of its models after the FAME II subsidy revision kicked in. Ather reduced price of its models by as much as ₹14,500. "The revision in the FAME policy, increasing the subsidy by 50% per KWh is a phenomenal move. Sales of electric two-wheelers have grown despite the pandemic and with this additional subsidy, we expect electric two-wheeler sales to disrupt the market, and clock 6 million+ units by 2025," said Tarun Mehta, CEO and Co-founder of Ather Energy.

Later, other electric two-wheeler manufacturers, like Hero Electric, Okinawa and TVS, have also announced a price decrement for their battery-powered models in India.

A week ago, the government decided to amended the FAME II scheme, which extends the subsidy amount for the electric two-wheelers that meet the criteria. The amount of subsidy under the scheme, which was launched in 2019, has been revised under the new FAME II scheme which offers 50% more subsidy at ₹15,000 per kWh.

Two-wheelers, especially the e-scooters, are the largest beneficiary of the ₹10,000 crore subsidy earmarked in the FAME-II scheme. However, not every electric two-wheeler benefits from this scheme. According to a report by CRISIL, around 95% of the electric scooters in India are not eligible for the FAME-II subsidy.