In pursuit of meeting the target of installing 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030,
India has renewed its focus on clean mobility through enhanced penetration of
electric vehicles. In line with this, the road transport ministry constituted an
expert committee to strategize additional safety requirements in the existing
battery safety standards, the deadline for the implementation of which has been
set for 1 December 2022. To further ensure safe e-mobility, the government has
drafted another set of EV battery safety norms, Phase II, which will come into
effect from 31 March 2023.
The government’s move comes against the backdrop of the incidents of electric
vehicles catching fire in different parts of the country. To reduce its overall carbon
footprint, India has set an ambitious target to achieve electrification of 70 per cent
of all commercial cars, 30 per cent of private cars, 40 per cent of buses and 80 per
cent of two and three-wheelers by 2030. Even though there has been a steep rise in the
customer behaviour towards transportation, with surveys suggesting that 66 per
cent of Indian consumers are more inclined to purchase electric vehicles or
prefer commuting through them.
There has also been a rise in investments in the electric vehicles sector; with
the EV makers in India have committed an investment of over Rs 9000 crore in
the last year. The electric vehicle market in India is expected to reach $206
billion by 2030, with a cumulative investment of $109 billion in vehicle production,
charging infrastructure and battery efficiency. According to reports, the domestic
market in financing electric vehicles will be around Rs 40,000 crore by 2025 and Rs
3.7 trillion by 2030 – around 80 per cent growth from the current size of the retail
vehicle finance industry.
However, for the country to witness a fast-paced adoption of clean and green
mobility there should be an enhanced focus on creating a robust EV charging
infrastructure and application of cutting-edge technologies to make the batteries
more reliable and durable. Hence, the government’s initiative to take new and safe and boost up the trend of people’s growing inclination towards clean mobility.
OEMs, NFBCs, private banks, fleet operators, start-ups and fintech are the
key players to unlock the capital for electric vehicles. The country has made steady
progress in the growth of the EV ecosystem, which has also encouraged the state
and central governments to reform EV policies and incentivise domestic
manufacturing of EVs, batteries and charging infrastructure.