The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, recently said that India will soon become the number one manufacturer of electric vehicles in the world. Addressing Amazon's Smbhav Summit virtually, Gadkari said he is confident that lithium-ion batteries would be fully manufactured in the country as early as in the next six months, giving the much-needed push to India's EV agenda. Speaking at the summit, Gadkari said, "India is moving ahead towards making electric vehicles. In due course of time, we will be the number one electric vehicle (EV) maker in the world. All reputed brands are present in India,"
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The Union Minister believes that in the next two years, the cost of electric vehicles will come down and will be as competitive as petrol and diesel vehicles
The Union Minister highlighted the fact that the government is also working to launch hydrogen fuel cell technology, which uses chemical reactions between hydrogen and oxygen to generate electrical energy, eliminating the use of fossil fuels. Gadkari also said that the government wants to encourage automakers to introduce flex-fuel engines in the country and that he is in the final stages of discussion with manufacturers in India. Earlier this month, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas announced a partnership between state-run oil company IndianOil and Phinergy, an Israeli start-up company to build Aluminium-Air systems in India.
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The Government of India is also working to launch hydrogen fuel cell technology
The Union Minister believes that in the next two years, the cost of electric vehicles will come down and will be as competitive as petrol and diesel vehicles. He expressed the need for the quality of EVs manufactured in India to be of international standard, as he wants to make the Indian automobile industry the number one manufacturing hub in the world. For that purpose, the Government of India is now encouraging the use of ethanol, methanol, bio-CNG, electric and hydrogen fuel cell.
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In his speech, Nitin Gadkari also said that e-mobility will be an important tool to develop pollution-free transport in India. He even pointed out that India imports Rs. 8 lakh crore worth of crude oil right, and that is going to double in the next 4-5 years. This will have a huge impact on the country's economy thus it's important to look for an efficient and alternative mode of energy, the Union Minister added.
