Despite the market for battery-powered vehicles in India still at a nascent stage, the Mahindra Group expects half the vehicles it would sell by 2030 to be electric. The company acknowledges the fact that India is behind a few years behind some of the countries.
Anish Shah, in an interaction at CNBC’s Sustainable Future Forum said cars are a luxury item. “Electric vehicles in India, I would say, a few years behind some of the other countries, largely because of the fact that in India, it’s difficult to provide incentives for cars – it’s a luxury item,” he said. “As most Indians do not own cars, providing subsidies or lower taxes to encourage switching to electric cars is unlikely to work the same way as it would in other countries.”Mahindr
With India being a cost-conscious market, people tend to opt for cheaper options. It means that the cost of owning an electric car has to be on par with or cheaper than owning a combustion-powered car.
Shah highlighted that a lot of the incentives available are comparatively lower than what other countries are offering for the switch. “That will result in a slower adoption but at the same time, it’s here to stay.” He discussed three factors which could help drive the adoption of electric cars in India.
“First, the cost of ownership has to come down through short term subsidies and longer-term production efficiency. It is already happening in certain segments of the auto market. What we’re seeing today is for three wheelers, electric vehicles are at cost parity, they have enough range and there is infrastructure as well,” Shah said. “They are starting to take off very rapidly. Four wheelers are going to be a little slower but it’s again here to stay. And we would expect about half our vehicles sold by 2030 to be electric.”
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The carmaker believes policy makers need to step up their support in the development and deployment of new technologies that can reduce carbon emissions at a faster pace.
