“INDIA IS CERTAINLY BETTER POSITIONED TO EMBRACE EVS”

Rajeev Chaba, President & MD, MG Motor India tells PCQuest why EV adoption is crucial for India vis-a-vis ICE vehicles and what kind of innovation, incentivization and infrastructural support are needed for the shift

- Ashok Pandey

RAJEEV CHABA, President & MD, MG Motor India

What kind of opportunity and roadblocks do you see for the EV uptake in India vis-a-vis ICE vehicles? Do you have any suggestions on what could make the EV adoption better?

I can easily see more opportunities than roadblocks. To begin with, India is a net importer of crude oil. Its crude imports totaled $112 billion in FY2019, which is more than the GDPs of several economies including Ecuador, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Bahrain. Now, this is a recurring spend that only increases with the adoption of ICE vehicles. This is where the biggest opportunity for EV is. EV adoption can save our nation its valuable foreign reserves. At the same time, India aims to build its renewable energy capacity to 175GW by 2022 and take it further to 450GW by 2030. EVs are best positioned in this landscape.

People also have to realize that EV technologies have enhanced over the past couple of years. They no longer have the lags in pickups as there used to be earlier. For instance, MG ZS EV delivers a better power to an end-user even if you compare it with any high-end ICE-driven SUV. The vehicle zooms from 0 to 60 mph in around 8.5 seconds.

The only roadblock that I see is that of infrastructure. A superior adoption will require a robust EV charging infrastructure throughout the nation. The entire value chain, including the government and the industry stakeholders are taking positive steps in this direction. It will bring about a positive change and catalyze EV adoption.

Cost remains the biggest barrier to EV adoption, what kind of policy intervention, govt. incentives, and innovation are needed to overcome this issue?