EV prices to be on par with cost of petrol vehicles within a year: Nitin Gadkari

The prices of electric vehicles (EVs) will be on par with the cost of petrol vehicles in the country within one year, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday.

Gadkari further said the government is promoting ethanol produced from crop residue instead of petrol and diesel.

"I am trying...within one year, the cost of electric vehicles will be equivalent to the cost of petrol vehicles in the country and we will save money spent on fossil fuels," he said while addressing the 'TV9 What India Thinks Today Global Summit'.

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Currently, EVs are expensive due to the high cost of batteries, which account for anywhere between 35 per cent to 40 per cent of the price of a vehicle, depending on the type.

At present, in the passenger vehicles segment, an entry-level EV could cost almost two times that of a comparable conventional engine version. In two-wheelers segment too, the electric versions cost nearly 1.5 times the petrol-powered models.

The minister further said the government is already promoting green fuels in a big way.

Gadkari noted that waterways are a cheaper mode of transportation than roads and it is going to come up in a big way.