Electric Mobility Emerging as a Catalyst for India’s Energy Transformation and Green Growth

As India doubles down on electric vehicle (EV) transition, experts on Thursday said that electric mobility offers great potential for the country’s energy solutions, with huge potential for green growth and clean air.

At a panel discussion on ‘Financing India's EV Transition: Infrastructure, Capital and Policy Pathways,’ organised by Chintan Research Foundation (CRF) here, Alok Kumar, Director General, All India Discoms Association and Former Secretary, Ministry of Power, framed India's energy transition primarily through affordability and green growth, with emission reduction as a secondary benefit.

Drawing on comparisons with China, Europe, and Norway, he cautioned that India must act now while its growth window remains open, and proposed starting with geography-specific mandates — such as electrifying commercial fleets in Delhi by 2030 — to prove scalability before wider rollout.

Dr Debajit Palit, Centre Head, Centre for Climate Change and Energy Transition, CRF, called for India to prioritise electrons over molecules, noting that the country imports most of its energy molecules barring coal, while electrons can be generated and greened domestically.

He opined that transport electrification is not merely a transport policy, it is an energy security as well as an environmental strategy.

Dr Palit also stressed that freight electrification deserves as much attention as passenger vehicles, and that the real gap lies not in capital availability but in financing architecture and absorptive capacity.

The session also featured the launch of two key CRF publications by Dr Ria Sinha, Senior Research Consultant, CRF -- the research study titled "Role of Financial Intermediaries in Unlocking Mitigation Finance in India: Challenges and Enablers," and the Issue Brief, titled “Financing India's EV Transition: Beyond Subsidies Towards a Bankable Ecosystem.”

The first panel discussion, moderated by Anuraag Nallapaneni, Program Lead – Hydrogen, WRI India, brought together IV Rao, Distinguished Fellow, TERI; Abhishek Ranjan, CEO, BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd; Gaurav Bhatiani, Senior Advisor, Habitat Emprise and Senior Fellow, Ashoka Centre for a People-Centric Energy Transition; and Shyamasis Das, Fellow, CSEP.

Panellists noted that EV penetration remains low and unevenly distributed, with infrastructure, coordination, and financing challenges deeply interlinked.

Discussions touched on accelerating fast-charging infrastructure, addressing range anxiety, and a proposed hub model triangulating mobility patterns, location, and grid capacity to improve utilisation and bankability, among other themes around policy clarity and infrastructure integration, according to a statement.

The second panel discussion, moderated by Dr Ria Sinha, Senior Research Consultant, CRF, brought together Vibhuti Garg, Director-South Asia, IEEFA; Abhishek Gupta, Head of Appliance & International Business, EESL; Pankaj Guptta, Founder and CEO, BatFIN Pvt. Ltd.; and Vaibhav Pratap Singh, Executive Director, Climate and Sustainability Initiative.

Discussions touched on a persistent confidence gap among financial institutions, with panellists suggesting that several segments of the EV ecosystem are yet to become fully bankable, and pointing to the need for stronger business models to help close that gap.

Panellists also discussed leasing as a potentially more viable financing option than traditional ownership models. They noted that a shift from capex to totex (total expenditure) approaches has played a role in electric bus deployment so far.