New rules, and what each one changes.

What it is

PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) is the Ministry of Heavy Industries scheme for electric vehicles. It began with ₹10,900 crore for purchase incentives, e-buses, public charging and testing (Gazette notification, 29 September 2024). An amendment raised that to ₹11,900 crore, running to 31 March 2028 (Gazette notification, 10 August 2026).

What changes in practice

An electric two-wheeler registered between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2028 earns ₹2,500 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of battery, capped at ₹5,000, half the 2024-25 rate and cap. Only models priced up to ₹1.5 lakh ex-factory qualify, and the incentive cannot exceed 15% of that price (Gazette notification, 10 August 2026). Buyers get it upfront as a lower price, through an e-voucher issued after Aadhaar face authentication on the PM E-DRIVE app (Gazette notification, 29 September 2024).

A March amendment had set the two-wheeler incentive to end on 31 July 2026 (Gazette notification, 27 March 2026); the August amendment restored it. E-rickshaws and e-carts keep ₹2,500 per kWh, capped at ₹12,500, until March 2028 (same March notification). Support for the separate L5 class of electric three-wheelers ended on 26 December 2025, once their sales target was met (Gazette notification, 10 August 2026).

What to watch

The scheme is fund-limited. The two-wheeler budget is ₹2,767 crore for up to 45,79,120 vehicles, and any segment closes early if its money runs out. All claims must reach the ministry by 31 December 2027 (Gazette notification, 10 August 2026).

What it is

Power sent across state lines on the inter-state transmission system normally pays transmission charges. To speed up clean power, the Ministry of Power waived them for solar and wind plants for 25 years, and in 2021 set out how the waiver would shrink for plants commissioned after 30 June 2025 (Ministry of Power order, 23 November 2021). The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) wrote this schedule into its regulations (CERC amendment, 26 June 2025).

What changes in practice

Solar and wind plants commissioned by 30 June 2025 keep a full 25-year waiver. Those commissioned in the year to 30 June 2026 get 75%, then 50% and 25% in the following two years, and none after 30 June 2028 (CERC amendment, 26 June 2025). Only charges are waived, not transmission losses (Ministry of Power order, 23 November 2021).

Storage gets more time. A battery sharing a substation with a solar or wind plant and charged from it keeps a full 12-year waiver if commissioned by 30 June 2028. Pumped hydro storage keeps a full 25-year waiver if construction is awarded by that date (Ministry of Power order, 10 June 2025; CERC amendment, 26 June 2025).

What to watch

Projects due by 30 June 2025 but delayed by events beyond their control, such as late transmission lines, can keep the full waiver through up to two six-month extensions (CERC amendment, 26 June 2025). Watch whether more new plants pair with batteries while the storage waiver lasts.

What it is

Viability gap funding (VGF) is a one-time grant covering part of a project’s cost to keep its tariff affordable. On 9 June 2025 the Ministry of Power set aside ₹5,400 crore from the Power System Development Fund, at ₹18 lakh per megawatt-hour, for 30 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of battery storage. Of this, 25 GWh goes to 15 states, led by Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra at 4 GWh each, and 5 GWh to NTPC, the state-owned power company (Ministry of Power guidelines, 9 June 2025).

What changes in practice

The guidelines say batteries are needed for the evening peak, when solar output falls. They cite a Central Electricity Authority estimate, current at the time, that India needs 37 GWh of battery storage by 2027 and 236 GWh by 2031-32; a July 2026 reply in Parliament put the 2026-27 need at 34 GWh. Projects are bid out competitively, should preferably store two hours of output, and must be commissioned within 18 months of signing a storage purchase agreement. The grant is paid 20% at financial closure, 50% at commercial operation and 30% a year later (Ministry of Power guidelines, 9 June 2025). The battery’s energy management software must be developed in India, and refurbished cells are barred (Ministry of Power amendment, 4 August 2025).

What to watch

Developers must reach financial closure within six months of signing (Ministry of Power amendment, 22 September 2025). The test is how much of the 30 GWh, and of 13.2 GWh approved under an earlier VGF scheme, is running on time (Ministry of Power guidelines, 9 June 2025). By July 2026 the government put the total storage backed by viability gap funding at 43.8 GWh (Ministry of Power reply in Parliament, July 2026). That is 0.6 GWh more than the 30 GWh and 13.2 GWh above, which come from the June 2025 guidelines; the reply does not break down the difference.

What it is

India keeps an Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) for solar equipment. List-I covers solar panels. On 9 December 2024 the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) announced List-II for solar cells, the parts inside a panel that turn light into electricity, effective from 1 June 2026. It had waited because India’s cell-making capacity was below demand (MNRE office memorandum, 9 December 2024). The first List-II was published on 31 July 2025 (MNRE office memorandum, 4 August 2026).

What changes in practice

Projects covered by the ALMM must use List-I panels built with List-II cells, and from 1 June 2026 panels without listed cells can be removed from List-I (MNRE office memorandum, 9 December 2024). The rule also reaches net-metering projects (rooftops that sell surplus power to the grid) and open-access projects (large consumers buying power directly from a generator) commissioned from that date (same memorandum).

MNRE refused a blanket extension (MNRE office memorandum, 25 May 2026), but later exempted those two groups from the cell rule if commissioned by 31 December 2026. Homes that give up the central subsidy under PM Surya Ghar are exempt until 31 March 2027. Private behind-the-meter plants, used only for the owner’s own consumption, fall outside both lists (MNRE office memorandum, 4 August 2026).

What to watch

Watch whether listed cell supply keeps pace once the rooftop window closes. MNRE keeps adding cell makers, most recently on 8 October 2026 (MNRE, ALMM List-II revision 12).