New Delhi, Aug. 12 -- The government has extended subsidies for electric two-wheelers under the PM E-Drive scheme till FY28 and raised the allocation for the segment by nearly Rs.1,000 crore, according to a notification issued late on Monday. Mint first reported in May that the government was planning to extend these benefits, which were slated to end in FY26. The move comes days after a Rajya Sabha standing committee urged the heavy industries ministry to expedite the extension of subsidies. The heavy industries ministry had urged the finance ministry to raise the budgetary outlay for electric two-wheelers to Rs.3,000 crore till FY28, according to the standing committee on industry report dated 6 August. The allocation for e-two-wheeler incentives has been increased to Rs.2,767 crore, from Rs.1,772 crore till FY28, while the number of vehicles eligible for the subsidy has been raised to 4.57 million from over 2.4 million, according to the notification. The scheme's total outlay has also been increased from Rs.10,900 crore to Rs.11,900 crore. The subsidy rate will remain at Rs.2,500 per kWh of battery capacity, capped at Rs.5,000 per electric two-wheeler. Under the earlier scheme, the incentive was Rs.5,000 per kWh in the first year and Rs.2,500 per kWh in the second year. The last date for claiming the e-two-wheeler subsidy will now be 31 December 2027. The extension provides greater policy visibility to electric two-wheeler manufacturers as the segment continues to expand. Vahan data show that electric two-wheeler sales rose to 1.46 million in FY26 from 252,787 in FY22, even as petrol two-wheeler sales fell to about 11 million from 13.2 million over the same period. The shift to electric two-wheelers (2Ws) could also help reduce India's dependence on petrol....