EV sales to grow eight-fold by 2030: PM Modi

New Delhi: The number of electric vehicles in India is likely to increase eight-fold by the end of this decade and the government’s endeavour is to develop a complete ecosystem for mobility, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the Bharat Mobility Global Expo, Modi said the number of electric vehicles sold in a single day in 2024 was double the number sold in an entire year a decade ago. 

He said the total number of EVs sold in India during 2014 stood at 2,600, while it jumped to 16.80 lakh in 2024. “Ease of travel is a big priority of India. In the last budget, more than Rs 11 lakh crore were provisioned for the development of infrastructure," he said.

Modi said that India's auto sector attracted over $36 billion in Foreign Direct Investment in the past four years and the momentum is likely to continue in the coming years. “In the coming years, it is going to increase many fold. Our effort is to develop the entire ecosystem related to auto manufacturing in India itself.”

Stressing on the continuous policy decisions and support provided by the government for the expansion of electric mobility in the country, Modi said the FAME-2 scheme, launched five years ago, had provided incentives worth over Rs 8,000 crore.

The amount was used to subsidise the purchase of EVs and build charging infrastructure, supporting over 16 lakh EVs, including more than 5,000 electric buses.

“The Make in India campaign has got a new impetus from the PLI schemes. The PLI scheme has helped in sales of more than Rs 2.25 lakh crore. More than 1.5 lakh direct jobs have been created in this sector through this scheme alone,” the PM said.

He said that the PM E-Drive scheme announced recently would support the purchase of around 28 lakh EVs, including two-wheelers, three-wheelers, e-ambulances, and e-trucks.

He emphasised that approximately 14,000 electric buses will also be purchased, and over 70,000 fast chargers will be installed across the country.

Earlier, the Prime Minister inaugurated the Bharat Mobility Global Expo, which is touted as the second largest auto exhibition to be organised this year globally. The five-day expo will witness over 100 new launches across automobiles, component products and technologies.

Maruti Suzuki India

Maruti Suzuki unveils its first electric vehicle in India

Maruti Suzuki on Friday unveiled its first electric vehicle (EV) in India and announced that it will start manufacturing of the new vehicle at its Gujarat plant which would be a global manufacturing base. Speaking at an event organised at Bharat Mobility Expo Representative Director and President of Suzuki Motor Corporation Toshihiro Suzuki said the vehicles manufactured at Gujarat plant would be exported to over 100 countries including Europe and Japan. “We aim to make BEVs (Battery Electric Vehicles) attractive to customers through a three-pronged strategy. First is to develop a BEV dedicated platform for optimum performance. Second is to evolve the right product for the target markets based on customer requirements. The third is to leverage our global economies of scale and concentrate manufacturing at a single location for the world” Suzuki said “For this purpose we have chosen India as the global manufacturing base due to its quality products and scale merit” he added.

The new vehicle will be the electric version of its popular Vitara model. It will be named e-VITARA.  “The e-VITARA is an SUV built on the all-new platform called HEARTECT-e exclusively designed for electric vehicles. It comes with highly efficient battery pack options to deliver more than 500 km on a single charge” said Hisashi Takeuchi Managing Director & CEO Maruti Suzuki India. In terms of production volume of EVs as an original equipment manufacturer we are targeting to become number one EV manufacturer in India within one year Takeuchi said. Maruti Suzuki plans to launch five more EVs by 2030 and its plant in Gujarat will have a capacity to produce one lakh EVs per annum. “Our goal is to create Electric Eco-Solutions for the customers. We call it “e for me”. We will offer smart home chargers along with installation support leverage our vast network to provide fast charging support in the top 100 cities in the first phase and then expand further” Takeuchi said. “ The idea is that within these cities every 5 to 10 km a customer finds a charging point by Maruti Suzuki. We are also preparing 1500 EV enabled service workshops covering over 1000 cities with specially trained manpower and special equipment to address all EV related support including charging. Additionally we will provide roadside assistance all over India” he added.