India to set up an institution to support companies focussed on EVs: Nitin Gadkari
The government is planning to set up an establishment to fund businesses with a focus on electric vehicles as well as enable new financial instruments for lending to the public transportation and commercial vehicle segment, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said.
Addressing the India Global Forum 2021, Gadkari also said the government is planning to bring incentives for construction equipment vehicles to encourage them to become electric ones.
According to the latest report, India's electric vehicle financing industry is anticipated to be worth Rs 3.7 lakh crore in 2030, which would be about 80 percent of the present retail vehicle finance industry.
The report titled 'Mobilising Electric Vehicle Financing in India', prepared by Niti Aayog and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) had also said that end-users at present face several challenges such as high-interest rates, high insurance rates, and low loan-to-value ratios.
"The government is planning to set up a financial institution to fund business with a focus on electric vehicles and facilitate new financial instruments for lending to the public transportation and commercial vehicle segment," he said.
The minister noted that the government is giving uppermost priority to electric vehicles adoption in India.
"India's electric vehicles sector has been growing rapidly. The government is supporting domestic electric vehicle manufacturers," he said.
Further, Gadkari pointed out that battery cost is 50 percent of an electric vehicle and India's research institutions are working on alternative battery technology for such vehicles.
"We have huge domestic demand for electric vehicles. Many startups have started manufacturing electric vehicles," he said.
The minister noted that due to the import of petroleum products, India is facing problems of pollution.
"We will use solar energy for charging batteries of electric vehicles," Gadkari said, adding that at present, 69,000 petrol stations have electric vehicle charging facilities.
