Indian Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Thursday that the country is set to become a global hub of electric vehicles (EVs).
Earlier, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had reiterated the government’s resolve to make India the world’s number 1 EV manufacturing hub.
India, the world’s third largest auto market, may get pinned down by challenges, as it is highly dependent on innovations and government incentives. The country is also relying on the import of components required for electric vehicle manufacturing.
According to media reports, India is short of EV parts makers and relies on Chinese imports.
China’s export to India is mainly driven by electronic components for vehicles, to be used in an impending launch of new EVs.
Meanwhile, in a bid to promote e-vehicles in India, the government has formulated a scheme - Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (FAME) Vehicles - in India wherein one million cars are expected to be supported within the next three years by extending demand incentives to the buyers.
The FAME II scheme, which came into effect in April 2019, has an outlay of approximately $1.4 billion.
The scheme encourages the use of EVs, offering upfront incentives for purchases and also by establishing the necessary charging infrastructure. As per the official report of 2018, there are only 650 charging stations throughout the country.
The scheme also supports the deployment of about 7,000 e-buses with budgetary support of about $406 million.
India’s $57-billion auto components industry has witnessed a 30 percent slowdown since April 2019. The component sector also saw 100,000 jobs losses over the last few months this year.