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Electric vehicle industry body the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) has appealed to a parliamentary panel to direct the government to release the pending subsidy of Rs 1,200 crore earmarked for the liquidity-hit sector. In a petition to the Parliamentary Standing Committees on Industry and Estimates, the SMEV stated that EV adoption is slowing down due to the financial stress being faced by the industry. It said the EV segment has been besieged by irritants designed to disturb the momentum of the FAME 2 scheme.

The industry body said now that the country is almost ready with the entire supply chain, the only thing holding up the sector is the Rs 1,200 crore worth of subsidies that have been withheld leading to a serious liquidity crisis in the industry. The need of the hour is for the government and the industry to work together to resolve issues and put India back on track to meet its electric mobility targets. In December 2022, Union Heavy Industries Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey informed Parliament that the government is probing 12 automakers for alleged misappropriation of subsidies under the Rs 10,000 crore FAME scheme.

SMEV said the basis of the delay in the subsidies has been proven to be mischievous emails alleging non-adherence to policy norms as regards localisation targets. The charge of misappropriation has since been found to be misplaced because the monies due as subsidies have not been received as yet by OEMs while they have passed it on to customers.