Challenges In India's EV Plans

Electric Vehicles (EVs) are becoming more and more commonplace by the week. India holds a massive potential to become one of the largest EV markets in the world. Its potential however remains untapped due to a plethora of reasons.

Recognizing this issue, BW Businessworld organised a panel discussion on the topic ‘Challenges in India's EV Plans’, as a part of BW Businessworld Auto 40 under 40 Awards. In a conversation with Urvi Shrivastav, Editorial Lead - ESG & Sustainable, BW Businessworld; Sushant Kumar, Founder & Managing Director at AMO Electric Bikes, Raj Mehta, Founder, Greta Electric Scooters, Uday Narang, Founder & Chairman, Anglian Omega Group & Omega Seiki Mobility, Ashwini Tiwary, Founder & CEO, Autobot India, and Rajiv K Vij, Founder and CEO of Plug Mobility speaks about the issues that plague India’s EV industry. 

Elaborating on the topic, Narang said, “We have to see this as a marathon across the next five to ten years. With fuel prices over a hundred dollars, it makes sense to switch to Electric Vehicles. We also have the 20 most polluted cities here, which we all must work towards altering.” A key factor in achieving the required change in any field is government support. We have many policies in line right now, which was lucidly spoken about by Kumar, “EV is not new for India, it is there since the mid-2000s. In 2016, the National Electric Mobility Plan has been initiated by the government to make adoption faster. The government has also reduced registration tax; GST to 5 percent. The biggest challenge today is the demand creation.” 

Another key drawback in India adopting EVs is the lack of education, a gap that is being bridged by education startups. “We started in 2016, and now in 2022, I have seen a lot of maturity in the kind of enquires that are posed to us. Earlier people want to know the technology, but now it has gone to the advanced technology side.” Noted Tiwary. While user awareness is increasing, there are still more mountains to be scaled. One of them being domestic manufacturing of EV batteries. Talking about the same Vij noted, “The approach is if it is available outside, why should I produce it here. The government is not accepting that approach and has come up with a PLI scheme for the same.”  

Thus, India is making strides to promote EVs in the country, but there is a long road ahead.