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.

The DoT, approved, permissions to Telecom Service Providers for conducting trials for use and applications of 5G technology.  These TSPs have tied up with original equipment manufacturers and technology providers which are Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung and C-DOT.  In addition, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. will also be conducting trials using its own indigenous technology. The duration of the trials, at present, is for a period of 6 months. Each TSP will have to conduct trials in rural and semi-urban settings also in addition to urban settings so that the benefit of 5G Technology proliferates across the country and is not confined only to urban areas. The TSPs are encouraged to conduct trials using 5Gi technology in addition to the already known 5G Technology.

The DoT, approved, permissions to Telecom Service Providers for conducting trials for use and applications of 5G technology.  These TSPs have tied up with original equipment manufacturers and technology providers which are Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung and C-DOT.  In addition, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. will also be conducting trials using its own indigenous technology. The duration of the trials, at present, is for a period of 6 months. Each TSP will have to conduct trials in rural and semi-urban settings also in addition to urban settings so that the benefit of 5G Technology proliferates across the country and is not confined only to urban areas. The TSPs are encouraged to conduct trials using 5Gi technology in addition to the already known 5G Technology.

The government has launched an online portal for telecom service providers (TSPs) and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to procure gear from “trusted sources” as identified by India’s highest cybersecurity office. The beta portal, though, was expected to launch on April 15. It is currently accessible to only a few TSPs and OEMs.

With an aim to provide single-window access to energy data for the country, government think tank Niti Aayog on Monday launched India Energy Dashboards (IED) Version 2.0, according to an official statement.  While launching the IED, Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar said that it is an endeavour to establish a central energy database of the country. "With the rise of renewables and many other new energy technologies, the interplays between energy supply and demand sectors are now becoming increasingly critical," he said adding that the scenario building exercise is the key as India needs to seize today's opportunities to build a sustainable tomorrow.