Wheels Of Change Summit 2021 - We Will Not Take 10-15 More Years To Wait For The E-Mobility Revolution We'll Achieve It Must Faster. - Prakash Javadekar

Shri Prakash Javadekar, The honorable Union Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change (EFCC), Information & Broadcasting (I&B), and Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises (HI&PE) attended the Wheels of Change EV Summit organized by BWAutoworld in association with BW Businessworld on June 5th - The World Environment Day. Read The Full Text of the keynote address below - 

The government of India under the leadership of prime minister, Narendra Modi launched a very ambitious, faster adoption and manufacturing of hybrid and electrical vehicles in India program. In 2015, the scheme is one of the green initiatives of the government of India to promote hybrid and electrical technology in road transport.

So as to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and will be one of the biggest contributors in reducing pollution, as well as a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions,

we have improved further this scheme and we are now supporting various states in this program. We supported, deployment of 425 electrical buses in about nine cities, which are operational. Sanctioned projects for setting up 520 charging stations like Bangalore, Chandigarh  Delhi NCR, major highways, such as the Delhi – Chandigarh, Delhi – Agra, Mumbai – Pune, etc.

Out of these 520 charging stations, 392 charging stations have already been installed. Because there is a situation where the chicken comes first or the egg comes first, whether the charging stations are the requirement of faster adoption of electrical vehicles, Or whether the electric vehicles are important to ensure that charging stations also survive.

And there is a big challenge of battery storage and faster and faster charging. And therefore science and technology department has also created a grand challenge for innovators to come out with solutions. And that is what is very important and forward-looking today we help more than 300,000 Electrical vehicles that people are using, I myself, am using an electric vehicle and which runs good, but yes there is an issue of higher costs at this stage, but as the demand grows and as the technology improves, I'm very sure that it will be very feasible and the prices will come down like what we have seen in renewable energy. I remember vividly that 15-20 years ago when renewable energy first started the cost of one kilowatt was 19 rupees. Today, the auction has given us one rupee, 90 paise for one kilowatt. So This is how demand and supply play up. And I'm very sure that this is going to pick up very soon than later.

We have millions of E-Rickshaws throughout the country, which are battery-operated, We have millions of two-wheelers also. People are using these electric Scooty's for nearby work. And they are very robust now, the designs, and there are no complications of maintenance also. So there is also innovation in building a heavy vehicle with a higher capacity battery storage.

Modi government launched in 2019 is the second phase of the FAME scheme without an outlay of 10,000 crores for the period of three years. And we have sanctioned 6,265 electrical buses to 65 cities. But let me also make an announcement that now going forward, We'll deploy electrical buses in million-plus cities, nine big cities so that the whole benefit cycle comes to reality. And there is a constant demand for all these electrical buses.

wherever electrical buses are used, I have seen that it is very comfortable for the passengers. It is very easy to operate and even very easy to maintain. You can charge batteries at night and you can run throughout the day at all routes that are given. So we're, we'll also build now 2,877 charging stations sanctioned in 68 cities. These charging stations will become feasible after a certain period, but we are subsidizing them.

So we think that as of May 2021, we have a tremendous rising of Electric vehicle demand. And electrical vehicles are growing in numbers, States have a critical role to play in ensuring the success of this mobility transition zero-emission vehicle. The movement is picking up throughout the world and people are hopeful from India that we will be delivering.

So Modi government came out with yet another incentive for E-mobility. And that was in the form of Production linked incentives for manufacturers of advanced chemistry cells. This is a very important aspect of battery manufacturing in India and reducing the cost at all levels. So this will be a big boon to those who do it.

Department of science and technology, as I said, has thrown a grand challenge. Ministry of housing has amended the model by building bylaws to establish charging stations and infrastructure in the private and commercial buildings. So when a charging facility will be available in the building itself, then people will be using it more.

The GST council has also reduced the GST on electric vehicles from 12% to 5%. The Minister of finance has committed to an income tax deduction of 1.5 lakh on the interest paid on the loans, taken to purchase electric vehicles, ministry of road transport will give a green license and which is exempted from permit requirements.

Ministry of road transport has also waved off road tax on Electric vehicles so thus, the operating cost gets reduced.

Road Transport Ministry has issued a notification on 12th August. That two-wheelers and three-wheelers electrical vehicles can be sold without a battery pack because you need not invest in batteries in the beginning, You can take batteries on the rent. The central board of direct & indirect taxes customs has released a notification to reduce customs duty on electric vehicle components to 10 - 15%. A 10% import duty will be levied on the knockdown kit and 15% for the pre-assembled kit, the government of India has enabled the important registration of vehicles compliant with equivalent falling and national standards.

Friends, In the end, let me assure you that, India is on the cusp of a revolution of E-mobility. We will definitely continue this program with vigor,  I'm sure that people will start participating in large numbers as the economies work out. Nobody could imagine that we will be producing 450 gigawatts of renewable power, and it can be used to put use in combination with fossil fuel-based power. This was made possible in 10-15 years, But we will not take 10-15 more years to wait for the E-mobility revolution we'll achieve it must faster.