India has shifted it's target of electric mobility from 100 percent to 30 percent by 2030: Report

tech2 News StaffMar 10, 2018 11:50:34 IST

Ever since the initial announcement, it was believed that India was moving towards total electrification of cars by 2030. However, the country has clarified its target by confirming that it is aiming for 30 percent electrification instead of the perceived 100 percent. The initial step of establishing the necessary infrastructure required for electrification has not yet been taken making the task of electrifying vehicles, a lot more difficult to achieve in the next 12 years.

Representational image. Reuters.

Ajay Kumar Bhalla, the secretary at the Ministry of Power, said in an interview with BloombergQuint “The government is focusing on creating charging infrastructure and policy framework so that by 2030, more than 30 percent of vehicles are electric vehicles”.

According to the interview, the current minister of coal and railways, Piyush Goyal stated last year that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had directed a group of senior ministers to lead the initiative for making maximum cars electrified by the year 2030.

Even though the government is now aiming to electrify at least 30 percent of vehicles but it would still mean around 6 - 7 million vehicles. The heart of the problem is that the government does not allow charging stations to be set up by private companies as only power distributors are allowed to sell power.

Another reason for slow electrification is the scarcity of raw materials for manufacturing batteries. “The reason for non-electric vehicles to continue will be likely issues in accessing raw material for batteries and the price differential between EVs and conventional powertrains,” said Kumar Kandaswamy, a partner at Deloitte, while talking to BloombergQuint.

A number of changes have to be made to the policy-making if India is to reduce its dependency on combustion engines. As previously reported, a new policy is set to be unveiled soon for e-vehicles as part of governments' 2030 vision.