Revolt Intellicorp returns Rs 50 cr claimed under FAME for flouting rules

Revolt Intellicorp, one of the seven companies accused of violating phased manufacturing programme guidelines under the Rs 10,000-crore FAME-II scheme, has repaid the subsidy claimed, along with interest, amounting to Rs 50.02 crore to the government.

Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Heavy Industries Hanif Qureshi confirmed the repayment and said the ministry will give "a few weeks more" to six other companies found violating the Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP) norms.

He said while notices were issued to the firms after giving them a hearing, more time will be given as some of them maintain that they have not violated norms and will be required to submit documents validating their claims.

Apart from Revolt Intellicorp, the six other companies found violating the norms were Hero Electric, Okinawa Autotech, Ampere Vehicles (Greaves Cotton), Benling India, Amo Mobility, and Lohia Auto.

"We'll give them a few weeks more. Still giving them 2-3 chances in case they want to furnish some documents. Otherwise, we will initiate legal proceedings," Qureshi said on Thursday, adding that a recovery process will be initiated thereafter.

The amount of subsidies "wrongly claimed" by the seven firms under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicles (FAME-II) amounts to Rs 469 crore, he said.

"We have received a cheque worth Rs 50.2 crore from Revolt Intellicorp, which has been encashed today (Thursday)," Qureshi said.

The ministry asked testing agencies Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) and International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) to examine if PMP localisation guidelines were being followed by 13 companies after complaints that they were importing components substantially for their electric vehicles in violation of norms under the FAME-II Scheme.

"The testing agencies submitted 13 reports to us. Of the 13 companies, the testing agencies said that six were found to be complying with the guidelines but seven have violated by importing (components) and falsely claiming that they have manufactured in India," Qureshi said.