INDIA EYEING EV30@30 TAG BUT THERE'S MANY A SLIP

With increased policy and financial supports for the EV manufacturers and buyers, India certainly has sped up the efforts for mass adoption of EVs. But more than anything, it needs to bridge the gap between Intent and Execution first

- Soma Tah

Over the past decade, India took baby steps towards embracing Electric Vehicles (EV) mainstream but to little effect. Although being considered as an emerging market for EVs, the adoption of EVs is still very low in India for significantly higher upfront costs than internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, coupled with the lack of Charging Infrastructure and subsequent Range Anxiety, and Reliability issues.

As per the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) reports, only 1.56 lakh EVs were sold in India in FY2020 as against 1.3 lakh units in the previous fiscal- which is a nominal fraction of the total vehicle sales in India every year.

However, considering the alarming level of air pollution especially due to the carbon emission in the transportation sector, India has certainly sped up the efforts in this regard of late by increased policy and financial supports, as well as by ramping up infrastructure to incentivize automakers and buyers further.

Government Pushing transition to Electric Mobility

Government’s push for EVs has always played a key role in facilitating EV adoption in India. For the faster transition to electric mobility, the government laid down the principles and strategies under the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020 (NEMMP 2020) in 2013 and launched the FAME scheme (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid & Electric Vehicles in India) in 2015.

India has also set an ambitious target of achieving 30% new EV sales by 2030 by pledging to the global Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) EV initiative and participating in its EV 30@30 campaign.