E-cars: Govt must make a plan, not threats

Amidst rising environmental concerns, the world is moving towards green fuels for vehicles, mainly comprising natural gas and electricity. Unlike previous efforts that proved to be half-baked and unviable, the global automobile industry is now seriously moving towards electric mobility, with US-based Tesla being the catalyst, or rather disrupter of sorts. Most big carmakers, including BMW, Daimler, Ford, General Motors and Toyota, are all making large commitments towards electric vehicles (EV). Issues related to EVs, such as mileage per charge and the availability of charging points along motorways and inside cities are being addressed globally. Indeed, such is the momentum that investors are getting excited about what will obviously be a massive switch from fossil fuel-based mobility to an electric economy. Their love for Tesla now far exceeds that for the likes of Volkswagen and BMW.

India, too, has made a beginning in EVs, with Bengaluru-based Reva, now a part of the Mahindra Group, the pioneer. Other major carmakers, such as Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki have announced plans to go electric with some of their models. This is an imperative for the country. Dependent on imports for 80% of our fossil fuel demand, India’s crude oil import bill last fiscal was $72 billion, an expenditure that must be cut drastically. Moreover, the air quality in our major cities is among the worst in the world, thanks mainly to vehicle emissions, and India’s contribution to greenhouse gases is growing. With these issues in mind, the Modi government has committed to moving the country fully to electric vehicles by 2030. Yet, the government must make haste slowly, given the implications for the oil marketing companies and its own revenues as well as for the crucial industrial sector of automobiles.

It is in this context that Transport minister Nitin Gadkari’s comment that the government would “band bajao” (loosely translated, beat) car-makers into submission and hurry them into the electric economy soun-
ded unwise. Has Gadkari thought what doing so would do to the oil marketing companies and refiners that have invested lakhs of crores into their facilities and marketing set-ups? They are among the Navratna PSU cash cows for the government. Most importantly, it is from high taxes on petrol and diesel that the Centre and states are raking in a bulk of their revenues. Gadkari must therefore devise an alternative to the robust oil economy before he forcibly herds the carmakers into the electric era. The way to do that would be to come out with a draft policy, hold consultations with all stakeholders, and then build a realistic roadmap to the electric era. Else, in the process of disrupting an industry, he might damage an economy.