India's vision for mobility - Can India replicate the Telecom revolution for its electric cars.

The NITI Aayog's recommendation to have a deadline of 2032 for all cars to be only electric is surely a welcome sign. On the face of it I am sure it will make most of the people who work in the area of sustainable living give this a thumbs up. The recommendations to the government 

 include lower tax and interest rates on loans to buy these cars. This step will mark a key shift in a market which is the second fastest growing passenger car market for conventional cars in the world.

A similar scenario has happened in India almost a decade and half back when land line phone were still penetrating households in India and tele density was in its growth phase and the mobile revolution took over India. With the opening up of the telecommunications sector and private sector investment pouring in the sector grew phenomenally over the next decade.Call rates fell dramatically and at the end almost every other Indian had a mobile phone connection. The shift from landline phones to mobile phones was a quantum leap. Even before people could own a landline phone the mobile telecom industry was in place to ensure that every citizen could now afford a mobile phone.

Can we expect the same in the case of cars, can the shift from conventional cars to electric cars be replicated in the same way as the telecom revolution,can we avoid the mistake that developed markets in the west made of going through the entire cycle of owing conventional cars and then shifting to Hybrids before finally moving to Electric vehicles? The answer is yes but it comes with its own caveats. There are many steps that should happen for this vision to become a reality in the coming decade. Most important addressable issue is on the cost part of the battery and the charging infrastructure around it. The government must subsidize battery manufacturers to bring the cost of cars on par with regular cars. Enough charging points , standardized batteries for all cars is also something that the NITI Aayog has recommended. Incentivizing electric cars used as Taxi's with lower per kilometer charges is also another welcome step.

The commission had also planned to have a restriction by way of a lottery on the sale of conventional cars, however this does not make sense at this stage in a nascent market like India and will have a negative impact on the entire ecosystem. With limited and pathetic public transport this will be shooting oneself in the foot.

Currently India has only one electric vehicle maker which is the Mahindra group the makers of Reva. Ever since Mahindra has taken over Reva they have consistently been investing in technology to make the car better on all aspects. There has been talks of Tesla the American EV giant also wanting to enter India, the company in its latest press release denied that they will not want to enter India anytime soon as there were some restrictions in terms of percentage of local components sourcing. Any such conditions should be sorted out on a case to case basis and competition should be encouraged to come and invest in India. This will not just ensure that the consumer gets the latest technology but also competition ensures that the best practices in the industry are shared by all manufacturers. In an industry which is still get its feet on the ground this is the need of the hour.

The target to go fully electric by 2032 is a bold one but surely not one that cannot be achieved !!