India Set To Go Full Electric By 2030

Addressing the yearly assembly of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Piyush Goyal, minister of state for power, coal, new and renewable energy, said that with a little push from the government, the electric vehicle industry could kick off the electric revolution in the country. Once it gains momentum, the industry could become self-sustained without requiring any assistance from the government, he added.

Goyal also cited the example of the Indian government providing help to set up Maruti Udyog up from scratch. The company went on to become the biggest carmaker by a huge margin and also turned India into the automobile manufacturing hub that we know today. India is expected to become the third-largest car market by 2020, which has prompted South Korean giant Kia to get into the action before it's too late.

The minister also hinted at public sector undertakings (PSU) lending a helping hand during the initial stages starting with National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC). As we get closer to meeting our country's power demand for the domestic and commercial domain, we can expect the energy sector to invest in electric vehicles for a mutual benefit to increase the demand for electricity.

The minister expects all vehicles on sale to be electric by 2030. A tall task as even Western markets haven’t yet warmed up to electric cars despite several subsidies and benefits showered upon cars that can be attached to a plug point.

At the conference, Goyal said, "We are going to introduce electric vehicles in a very big way. We are going to make electric vehicles self-sufficient like UJALA. The idea is that by 2030, not a single petrol or diesel car should be sold in the country.”

“Through UJALA, the LED distribution programme, we have already seen about 500 million LED bulbs sold in the last two years. My job is to improve India's energy efficiency to reduce consumption wherever it is wasteful and ensure that demand is met fully."