Cautioning the government over the draft electric vehicle (EV) policy, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) recently said the government should adopt a practical approach towards adoption of EVs, without disrupting the automotive industry.
A steering committee headed by Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has in a report laid out a roadmap for rollout of electric vehicles in a phased manner whereby it has proposed that all three-wheelers and two-wheelers below 150cc will need to go electric by 2023 and 2025, respectively.
“The automotive industry fully supports an ambitious aspiration of the NITI Aayog in bringing in electric mobility in the country as soon as possible. However, the ambition needs to be tempered with a practical approach and what is possible without needlessly disrupting the automotive industry,” a statement from SIAM quoted its President Rajan Wadhera as saying.
He observed that the industry is currently facing multiple challenges of “leapfrogging to BS-VI emission norms, complying with many new safety norms etc, in the shortest time-frame ever attempted in the world”.
The transition to BS-VI involves investments of the order of Rs 70,000-80,000 crore, he said, adding that the thought of banning sale of sub-150cc three-wheelers and two-wheelers by 2023 and 2025 respectively seems to be impractical as well as untimely.
