Discuss how domestic industrial policy incentives (PLI, FAME) have shaped India's competitiveness in electric vehicle exports to neighbouring countries.

India's EV exports rose from about USD 1.2 million in 2020 to USD 84 million in 2024, with Nepal among the top destinations [3]. This shift traces largely to demand-side (FAME) and supply-side (PLI) industrial policy, though competitiveness remains uneven.

Demand-side scale: FAME

• FAME-II (₹10,000 crore, from 1 April 2019) subsidised e-2W/3W/4W and buses and funded charging stations [1] — a guaranteed domestic volume base letting firms amortise R&D and tooling.
• Localisation conditions pushed indigenisation of motors, controllers and battery packs, lowering unit cost.
• Successor PM E-DRIVE (₹10,900 crore, extended to 31 March 2028) sustains this demand floor [4].

Supply-side depth: PLI-Auto

• PLI-Auto, approved 15 September 2021 with an outlay of ₹25,938 crore, rewards output of Advanced Automotive Technology vehicles and components, offsetting cost disabilities [2].
• Scale from a market where India is among the world's top two two-wheeler producers makes export pricing viable for price-sensitive neighbours [5].

Outcome in the neighbourhood

• Nepal, alongside Indonesia and Japan, is a leading buyer [3]; Ather Energy entered Nepal in 2023 as its first overseas market, since building dealer and fast-charging networks.
• Product-market fit: low-cost e-scooters match neighbourhood incomes; proximity, shared road conditions and right-hand drive cut logistics cost.
• Reinforces Neighbourhood First through commercial and clean-energy linkages.

Limitations

• Incentives target domestic sales, not exports; subsidy-rate revisions caused price and demand volatility.
• Cell manufacturing remains import-dependent, keeping value addition shallow.
• Penetration is capped by host-country charging infrastructure and after-sales capacity, beyond Indian policy reach.

FAME created demand, PLI created capacity, together converting a protected home market into an export platform. Deepening the domestic cell ecosystem, harmonising EV standards regionally, and extending Lines of Credit for neighbours' charging infrastructure can turn these early gains into durable South Asian leadership, aligning Make in India with SDG-7 and SDG-13.