Electric vehicles a huge opportunity for India: Kant

The electric vehicle segment is a big opportunity for Indian manufactures and they should look at not only producing such models for domestic market but also exports, Niti Aayog Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the 'Entrepreneur 2019', Kant also emphasised on the road map to make India a USD 10-trillion economy by 2030.

"Electric vehicles are a sunrise opportunity as India has over 72 per cent two-wheelers; our endeavour should be to make these electric, and also manufacture EVs for the world, in India," Kant said.

The Niti Aayog has proposed that two-wheelers below the capacity of 150cc sold in the country after March 31, 2025, should be electric ones only.

It has also proposed that three-wheelers sold in the country should be electric ones only after March 31, 2023.

Commenting on the growing the size of economy, he said start-ups and entrepreneurship were important factors going ahead.

"India needs to grow at the rate of 9-10 per cent per annum to lift the majority of our population above the poverty line. And, this growth will not be possible unless we grow entrepreneurship," Kant said.

Globalisation and urbanisation are set to be at the forefront of this growth, he added.

Kant further said India needs to be open to globalisation, and embrace the growing urbanisation, as 30 people migrate to urban India every minute, which is a massive opportunity for start-ups.

There are a plenty of opportunities emerging due to urbanisation, such as recycling water and waste, mass transportation, education, health care, electric vehicles and many more, he added.

Kant said that at a time when Foreign Direct Investment has fallen 13 per cent globally, in India it has grown by over 66 per cent.

Several industry leaders like ReNew Power Chairman and CEO Sumant Sinha, Hero Electric Managing Director Naveen Munjal, Quatrro Chairman & Managing Director Raman Roy also spoke during the event.