Will Tesla’s entry into India charge up the local EV market? Transport minister Nitin Gadkari is confident that India’s homegrown EV brands will be able to more than hold their own in comparison. “India is an open market and you’re free to come here, manufacture and compete on cost. But our Indian electric car makers are no less and we have the best in terms of design, quality and technology right here today,” he said at HPCL presents Times Drive Auto Summit & Awards.
That confidence, he added, was based on how the Indian automobile industry has changed from a “cost-based sector to a quality-based industry”. In the near future, he added, this will make India the top automobile market in the world. “Currently, we are the third largest automobile market in the world at Rs 22 lakh crore with the US (Rs 78 lakh crore) at number 1 and China (Rs 49 lakh crore) at number 2. In five years, because of the increase in alternative fuel usage, improved cost and quality and electrification, we should be No. 1.”
Both industry and govt are already working towards a flexi-fuel future. “Already seven or eight companies, including the Tatas, Mahindras, Suzuki, Hyundai, among others, have lined up flex fuel vehicles while companies like Adani, Tata, Maruti, LG, Samsung have been cleared to make lithium ion batteries under a special scheme,” he said. Battery prices have come down to $100 per kilo watt hour and in “six to seven months EVs and petrol/diesel vehicles will cost the same,” he added. The NHAI, he said, is building 670 roadside amenities, including charging stations for EVs.