New Delhi
At a meeting of the manufacturers and start-up electric vehicle (EV) makers called by Niti Aayog on Friday, the industry was cautioned if they do not take steps to address pollution issues, courts will step in. The meeting was attended by top officials of major two-wheeler manufacturers, including Bajaj Auto MD Rajiv Bajaj, TVS Motor Co Chairman Venu Srinivasan, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) President & CEO Minoru Kato along with SIAM Director-General Vishnu Mathur, and Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) Director General Vinnie Mehta, among others. Niti Aayog VC Rajiv Kumar and CEO Amitabh Kant represented the think-tank.
“Without a policy and road map, transition to EVs cannot happen. Policies cannot be kept fuzzy. With 14 of 15 most-polluted cities are in India, if steps are not taken up by the government and industry, then Indian courts would step in,” a senior government official said. The Niti Aayog has planned transitioning to full EVs for 3Ws by 2023 and 2Ws with an engine capacity less than 150 cc by 2025. The official further said India has already missed electronics and semi-conductor revolutions, therefore it should not miss the electric mobility revolution.
If established players do not do, the official said start-ups will do. It has happened in China already. The official, however, said the Centre does not want to thrust it upon the industry. Sources said there was a clear divide in the industry between conventional manufacturers such as Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, HMSI and TVS on one side and start-ups like Revolt Intellicorp, Ather Energy, Kinetic Green Energy and Power Solutions and Tork Motors on the other, who favour faster adoption of EVs.
“We want the conversion to EVs to happen quickly, even as early as 2023 keeping in mind pollution issues,” Revolt Intellicorp founder Rahul Sharma said. Srinivasan and Bajaj declined to comment. Earlier this month, Bajaj Auto and TVS-M had said any plan to ban internal combustion engine three-wheelers and two-wheelers to adopt electric ones by 2025 would be “unrealistic” and “ill-timed” and derail auto manufacturing in the country. Later, Kant tweeted, “Had a vibrant discussion with industry @NITIAayog on the path towards #ElectricMobility revolution in India. India is in the saddle to be a driver of global #EV transformation. All agreed that #EVs are the #FutureOfMobility.”
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