TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi/ Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari’s ultimatum to the auto industry to shift to non-polluting alternatives (‘whether they like it or not’) or get ‘bulldozed’ has raised concerns among car makers on the feasibility of the government’s plan to have all new cars powered by the electric engine by 2030.
Gadkari made it clear that he would go after diesel vehicles, warning the industry not to complain of unsold inventory later. To achieve the target, the industry says manufacturers have to sell 10 to 15 million electric cars in 2030, which is eight to 10 times the sales of such vehicles in the world in 2015.
And the target for 2030 would amount to more than 10 per cent of the world production of electric vehicles as endorsed in the Paris climate talks. Currently India sells only 22,000 electric vehicles a year. The target looks ambitious. China, the largest electric vehicle market in the world (it sold about 500,000 last year), has set a modest target of producing 7 million such vehicles by 2025.
However, R C Bhargava, chairman, Maruti Suzuki, while concurring with the view that the target is ambitious, says: “What Mr Gadkari wanted to convey to the industry is the determination of the government to push the policy through.” Bhargava pointed out that the industry knew two years ago the need to go for BS (Bharat Stage)-VI and though the time might be short, it was doable.
