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FAME-II Program Revised with Increased Incentives for Electric Two-Wheelers
The Department of Heavy Industries has announced partial amendments to the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India Phase-II (FAME-II) program. Specific demand incentive for electric two-wheelers (E2W) of ?15,000 (~$205)/kWh has now been announced. Earlier, there was a uniform demand incentive of ?10000 ($137)/KWh for all vehicles. Also, the cap on incentive for E2W has been raised to 40% of the total cost of the vehicles. The cap earlier was 20% for all vehicles including E2W. Demand aggregation is identified as the key to bringing down the upfront cost of electric three-wheeler electrics, on par with the internal combustion engine vehicles for multiple user segments.
IIIT-H gets first corporate founding partner for Smart City Living lab
International Institute of Information Technology-Hyderabad (IIIT-H) has announced that Silicon Labs, a leading provider of silicon, software and solutions, is the first corporate founding partner for its new Smart City Living Lab. The lab’s mission is to provide a research and development ecosystem for next-generation technologies designed to improve safety, sustainability, energy efficiency, sanitation, and overall quality of life in densifying cities. It is part of the institute’s Smart City Research Center, supported by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Smart Cities Mission, Telangana government, and European Business and Technology Centre.
Portal launched for filing complaints for alleged violation of public procurement order
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has launched an online portal to enable companies participating in government procurement to file complaints for alleged violation of the Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order, 2017.
According to an office memorandum of the DPIIT, stakeholders can lodge grievances for alleged violation of the order and the department can refer those to procuring entities/ministries/departments concerned through the portal on real-time basis for examination, necessary corrective action.
Cabinet approves Production Linked Incentive scheme on Advanced Chemistry Cell Battery Storage
The Cabinet has approved the proposal of Department of Heavy Industry for implementation of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme 'National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell Battery Storage’ for achieving manufacturing capacity of Fifty (50) Giga Watt Hour (GWh) of ACC and 5 GWh of "Niche" ACC with an outlay of Rs.18,100 crore (€2.1 Bn). The consumer electronics, electric vehicles, advanced electricity grids, solar rooftop etc. which are major battery consuming sectors are expected to achieve robust growth in the coming years. This dominant battery technologies will control some of the world's largest growth sectors.