Ather Energy, backed by Hero MotoCorp, has announced that their flagship intelligent scooter, Ather 450 is now FAME II compliant and will receive an increased subsidy of ₹27,000 ($386.9).

Though the orders for the scooter have continued in Bengaluru through the month of April, deliveries had been held off by the company so the new subsidy benefit could be passed on to the owners, the company informed in a statement.

Consumers can expect their Ather 450s to start being delivered in the next couple of weeks, with the new on-road price of ₹1,23,230 ($1766.26). Earlier, the model was available for ₹ 1,28,230 ($1837.9), inclusive of a subsidy of ₹22,000 ($315.3) under FAME I.

Being one of the first auto companies in India to design and build its scooters and charging infrastructure locally, Ather Energy was the first company to introduce high-performance intelligent vehicles in the market, the company stated in a release.

Ather 450 and Ather Grid will be available in Chennai in June and will be followed by more cities in the coming year. Ather Energy will install 6,500 charging points across the country and will be operational in 30 cities by 2023, the release added.

Moreover, Ather will be extending its existing FAME I certified 450 customers’ comprehensive warranty to 3 years from the existing two years.

All Ather 450s certified under FAME II will come with the 3-year comprehensive warranty as mandated. The new warranty plan includes Ather’s “Make in India” battery pack which earlier had a separate warranty for three years.

Under the government’s FAME II program to popularize electric and hybrid vehicles, up to 1 million electric two-wheelers powered by new advanced technology battery of 2kWh are pegged to get a subsidy of up to ₹20,000 ($ 286.66).

To avail the government subsidy, the maximum ex-factory price of an electric two-wheeler is up to ₹0.15 million ($2,149.9).

The Union Cabinet has recently approved the proposal for the implementation of a program titled ‘Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India Phase II (FAME India Phase II)’ aimed towards the promotion of electric mobility in the country.

The program with a total budget of ₹100 billion ($1.41 billion), is expected to be deployed over a period of three years with effect from April 1, 2019. The program is the expanded version of FAME India I, which was launched on April 1, 2015, with a total outlay of ₹8.95 billion (126.2 million).

The Indian government, in order to encourage faster adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles, offered upfront incentives on the purchase of electric vehicles and initiated establishing necessary charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.

The objective of FAME is addressing the issue of environmental pollution and fuel security.

It is expected to emphasize on electrification of public transportation including shared transport by providing demand incentives on operational expenditure mode for electric buses; these incentives are expected to be delivered through state or city transport corporation (STUs).

Soumik is a staff reporter at Mercom India. Prior to joining Mercom, Soumik was a correspondent for UNI, New Delhi covering the Northeast region for seven years. He has also worked as an Asia Correspondent for Washington DC-based Hundred Reporters. He has contributed as a freelancer to several national and international digital publications with a focus on data-based investigative stories on environmental corruption, hydro power projects, energy transition and the circular economy. Soumik is an Economics graduate from Scottish Church College, Calcutta University.