NITI Aayog released the report titled ‘Unlocking a $200 Billion Opportunity: Electric Vehicles in India’

The main goals of India's EV Initiative:

Decreased reliance on foreign fuel sources;

Boosted renewable energy proportion by utilizing the storage capacity of electric vehicle batteries;

Lowered Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions;

Enhanced air quality;

Enhanced Plant Load Factor (PLF) of power generation facilities;

Emerging as a leader in a swiftly expanding international market.

Objective: India aims to achieve a 30% proportion of electric vehicles in the overall vehicles sold by 2030.

Adoption of EVs: In India, EV sales increased from 50,000 in 2016 to 2.08 million in 2024, while global EV sales grew from 918,000 in 2016 to 18.78 million in 2024.

The uptake of EVs in India has been rising, but it has lagged behind the speed seen in leading nations such as the US, EU, and China.

India’s Advancement: India has achieved only approximately 7.6% of its sales in 2024 as electric, significantly trailing its goal of 30% by 2030.

As a result, it has required almost a decade to achieve a penetration rate of 7.6%, and now this proportion must grow by more than 22% within just the next 5 years.

Obstacles

Financing vehicles presents challenges, particularly with electric buses and electric trucks.

Insufficient charging infrastructure on one side and minimal usage of currently available public charging stations on the other side.

Insufficient understanding of EV performance among public and private stakeholders.

Insufficient data and regulatory deficiencies obstruct evidence-driven decision making.

Plan for Speeding Up Electric Vehicle Adoption in India

Transitioning from incentives to mandates: Declare a definitive policy, complete with target timelines, for the adoption of Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV).

Create an increasingly rigorous strategy to require the manufacture and acquisition of electric vehicles while discouraging the ongoing use and production of internal combustion engine vehicles.

Saturation rather than sparse distribution: Develop and initiate a saturation initiative to assist 5 cities over 5 years.

Assign entities in the States to oversee this program.

Expand to 20 cities and subsequently to 100 cities.

Facilitate funding for e-Buses and e-Trucks: Establish a collective fund backed by public budget allocations and multilateral contributions.

Create and implement a suitable strategy to direct the resources.

Expand research for innovative battery technologies: Establish a collaboration among academia, industry, and government to expedite research on new battery materials.

Strategic expansion of charging infrastructure: Pinpoint 20 high-density routes for e-Bus and e-Truck usage and initiate a study to determine optimal charging hub locations based on existing voltage patterns on these routes.

Create nodal agencies within each state to support and promote the establishment of additional charging stations.