India’s electric vehicle push will lead to brighter, greener future

News: Decarbonisation of global economy, including India’s, entails decarbonisation of the transport sector. Moreover, it is in line with the India’s climate change commitments, will help boost manufacturing sector and also help ensure energy security.

India supports the global “EV30@30” campaign, which aims for at least 30% of new vehicle sales to be electric by 2030.

It requires a transportation revolution, having many components like better ‘walkability’, public transportation, railways, roads and better cars (likely to be electric).

Why India needs to transit towards electric mobility?

Huge car market: India is the 5th largest car market in the world and has the potential to be in top three in near future.

Expensive fuel: These cars are running on expensive imported fuel. India imports over 80% of its overall crude oil needs.

Vehicular emissions: The vehicular emission released is huge, causing health and environmental issues.

Crowded cities: It crowds up already overcrowded cities, suffering from infrastructure bottlenecks.

Opportunities in battery manufacturing: With rising levels of per capita income, there has been a tremendous demand for consumer electronics in the areas of mobile phones, UPS, laptops, power banks etc. requiring advanced chemistry batteries. This makes manufacturing of advanced batteries one of the largest economic opportunities of the 21st century.

What are the challenges India is facing in transitioning to electric mobility?

The absence of a manufacturing base for batteries in India, leading to sole reliance on imports to meet rising demand. It is estimated that by 2030, India’s cumulative demand for batteries would be approximately 900-1100 GWh.

– High Import bill– India imported more than $1 billion worth of lithium-ion cells in 2021.

What are the likely benefits?

Transitioning to EVs has multiple benefits:

– It would help India to fulfil its global commitments like Paris goal, to reduce carbon emissions in order to limit global warming.

– It is likely to contribute in improving the overall energy security situation of India.

– Using EVs would help India save foreign exchange.

– The would develop a complete domestic supply chain and attract FDI (foreign direct investment) in the country.

– It is expected to play an important role in the local EV manufacturing industry for job creation. The battery manufacturing unit would make India’s EV path sustainable.

– Through several grid support services, EVs are expected to maintain secure and stable grid operation. Also it would help in higher renewable energy penetration.

What steps have been taken by the government?

– Government remodelled Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME II) scheme to tackle the demand side.

– It introduced production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) for the supplier side.

– Also the government launched PLI scheme for Auto and Automotive Components for manufacturers of electric vehicles.

Source: This post is based on the article “India’s electric vehicle push will lead to brighter, greener future” published in the Indian Express on 1 Dec 2021.