The Government, vide S.O. 5333(E) dated 18^th October, 2018 has granted exemption to Battery Operated Transport Vehicles and Transport Vehicles running on Ethanol and Methanol fuels from requirement of permit.

In order to promote electric vehicles, the Government has notified for retro-fitment of hybrid electric system or electric kit to vehicles and has specified the type approval procedure of electric hybrid vehicles.

The Government has notified that the registration mark for Battery Operated Vehicles is to be on a plate with green background. 

The Ministry has notified certain specifications for the grant of licence to age group of 16-18 years to drive gearless E scooters/ Bikes upto 4.0 KW.

Further, for the promotion of electric mobility in the country, the Government had launched Phase-I of the FAME India Scheme [ Faster Adoption of Electric (& Hybrid) Vehicles in India]  with effect from 1st April 2015. This was initially for a period of 2 years and has subsequently been extended till 31st March 2019. All electric & hybrid vehicles, including public transport, registered under the scheme are being incentivized under the Demand Creation focus area of this scheme. The Phase-1 of FAME Scheme is, at present, available upto 31^st March 2019 and is available for all registered electric vehicles with lithium ion batteries.

Ministry of Power has issued a policy on charging infrastructure and has issued a notification clarifying that charging electric vehicles will be a service, not a sale of electricity.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has commercialized indigenously developed lithium ion battery technology and has selected 14 companies for transfer of technology.

The NITI Aayog has taken an initiative to provide a Model Concessionaire Agreement (MCA) document for introducing Electric-Bus Fleet in Cities for Public Transportation on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode on Operational Expenditure (per km basis) Model rather than paying upfront capital cost.

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has made amendment in the Urban and Regional Development Plans Formulation and Implementation (URDPFI) guidelines to provide for electric vehicle charging stations in private and commercial buildings.

This information was given by Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport & Highways in response to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

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NP/MS/MS