In a much needed push to boost electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the country, around 69,000 petrol pumps across the country will get atleast one charging kiosk installed. This was announced by the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways & MSME, Nitin Gadkari while addressing the 9th Edition of Auto Serve 2020 Electric Mobility Conference on Monday. He added that the Government is trying to create an ecosystem to accelerate the uptake of electric vehicles in the country. However the Minister did not specify any timelines on by when this target will be achieved.
The automobile sector has requirement of about 25 million skilled jobs in the near future, according to the Govt.
Gadkari elaborated a number of steps that Government has taken to promote electric vehicles which include reduction in GST to 5%, allowing delinking of battery cost of 2-wheelers and 3-wheelers from vehicle cost as it accounts for nearly 30% of the cost etc. He also asked the auto industry to come together to work jointly towards achieving broader national agenda of reducing pollution. He further called upon the automobile industry to push for manufacturing flex engines which has versatility to use petrol or ethonal/CNG as fuels.
Also read: Indian Oil Corporation To Expand EV Charging Facilities At Its Petrol Pumps
Gadkari said, “Government is also working towards making India a global automobile manufacturing hub in next five years. This is my dream." He added that the Government aims at creating core global competencies in India by facilitating seamless integration of the automotive industry with the world, adding that that India is poised to become global automobile manufacturing hub in next 5 years. He also stated that there is a huge requirement of about 25 million skilled jobs in the automobile sector in near future.
