Electric two-wheeler makers body SMEV on Friday sought clarifications from the Ministry of Heavy Industries about its claim for refund of subsidies from some OEMs who did not comply with phased manufacturing programme (PMP) norms. Pointing out that the basis for refund would only mean that the processing of subsidies and the official reimbursement was done faultily, it has asked for the ministry (MHI) to clarify if it intends to thus cancel all subsidy claims during this period for all OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers), SMEV said in a letter to Heavy Industries Secretary Kamran Rizvi.
The letter also sought the legal basis for the refund amounts since they do not conform to any stated mechanism in the rules.
SMEV had earlier offered a solution to the issue through recovery from customers directly which would have cleaned off the subsidy slate completely.
“The Ministry is in debt to OEMs to the tune of Rs 1,200 crore. If their demand for refund of earlier paid subsidies to the tune of Rs 469 crore is actualised, it would have recovered Rs 1,669 crore in all making its budget of Rs 2,000 crore for the E2W sector almost undisbursed,” a SMEV spokesperson stated.
In that case, the non-compliance would become a non-issue – although the FAME 2 scheme would have proved to be a complete non-starter, he added.
