Kinetic Green – Sulajja Firodia Motwani, founder and CEO

The outbreak of coronavirus pandemic has created a massive disruption in the automotive sector. This situation has further worsened due to resultant lockdown and its impact on the economy. The sector has also witnessed several challenges due to a reduction in demand and an increase in costs due to regulatory changes amid emission and safety norms. There is an urgent need to revive the demand and investments in this sector, which has taken a back seat due to the current pandemic.

We would like to see further reforms, incentives and infrastructure that will drive EV consumption in India. The large amount of the budget allotted for this scheme remains unutilised and with FAME II policy now in implementation mode, we request an extension of FAME II scheme up to 2025 so that its impact and benefits reach the EV buyers effectively and enables demand acceleration. The slab of incentives for electric three wheelers and electric two wheelers be increased to Rs 20,000 per KwH of battery on board.

The government should include electric vehicles under priority lending sector to boost financing support needed to sell EVs. To protect interest of banks, they should finance EVs, which are qualified under GOI’s FAME II scheme and limit tenure to 3 years.