Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, 6 December
Electric vehicle (EV) sales last year were less than 1 percent compared to vehicles with internal combustion engines, posing huge challenges for the country’s COP21 to reduce its carbon footprint by 33 to 35 percent by 2030. was – below 2005 level.
In its report on “Electric and Hybrid Mobility Prospects and Challenges in the Automobile Industry” in Parliament on Monday, the Industry Standing Committee expressed concern over the poor offtake of EV sales 2020-21 and urgent mid-term reforms to achieve the energy transition. asked for. aim.
Engine vehicle sales in terms of volume last year stood at 1,78,95,224 as against 1,58,575 EVs. This translates into 0.8 percent of EV sales compared to internal combustion engine vehicles.
“India, the world’s fifth largest automobile market, is importing crude oil to meet 80 percent of transportation fossil fuel needs, draining the exchequer and increasing pollution from engine vehicles. The EV ecosystem is still in its infancy. The panel said that the need of the hour is to scale up the transition process to electric mobility.
Electric mobility in India began in 2015 with the launch of the FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles in India) scheme – a two-year plan of Rs 795 crore to support hybrid and EV market development. This scheme was extended on 1st April 2019.
The idea was to promote energy transition from carbon intensive fossil fuels to less energy alternatives and reduce India’s crude oil import bill for fossil fuel needs. The bill stood at USD 112 billion in the financial year 2019-2020, which was equivalent to 4 per cent of India’s GDP.
The transition is also significant with India’s COP21 pledge to increase the share of non-fossil fuel based electricity to 40 percent by 2030.
Highlighting the gaps in energy transition targets, the parliamentary panel said, “The FAME 1 scheme in 2015 was primarily targeted to promote electric vehicles in India. The ministry could not anticipate the growth and adoption of electric mobility, which calls for immediate mid-term reforms to see the desired take-off in mass adoption of EVs at this juncture.