POLICY WATCH : ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN INDIA

Updated: Jan 14, 2020

Brief Analysis (Importance Level : High)

1. INTRODUCTION

The government has approved a 10,000 crores programme under the ‘Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India.
The scheme will help in addressing the issue of environmental pollution and fuel security.
The GST reduction for electric vehicles from 12% to 5% seeks to increase the number of EV's on roads.

As of today, there are only 250 charging stations in the country and they mostly catering to three-wheelers. To make this transition viable, infrastructure is a key factor.
SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers) the nodal body for Indian automobile industry reports that the country currently sells close to 750,000 electric vehicles a year, a majority of these are three wheelers, which sold 6,30,000 units, with 1,26,000 of these three-wheelers.
The government aims to see 6 million electric and hybrid vehicles on the roads by 2020 under the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020.
Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India Scheme) for improving electric mobility in India.
The Union power ministry categorized charging of batteries as a service, which will help charging stations operate without licences

India does not have any known reserves of lithium and cobalt, which makes it dependent on imports of lithium-ion batteries from Japan and China.
Affordability of e-vehicles (EVs) and the range they can cover on a single battery charge.
Private investment in battery manufacturing plants and developing low cost production technology is needed.
Providing waiver of road tax and registration fees, GST refunds and free parking spaces for EVs.
Need to shift the focus from subsidizing vehicles to subsidizing batteries because batteries make up 50% of EV costs.

This would go a long way in addressing India’s clean fuel ideology and reduce high pollution levels.
The government said it is planning to set up a National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage to bring clean and connected technologies that can usher in an era of shared and sustainable EV infrastructure in the country.