In the gold rush for global domination of the electric mobility market, India has thrown its hat into the ring. The Modi-led government announced last month that it would offer US$1.4 billion in subsidies for both buyers and manufacturers of electric vehicles and impose higher import tariffs to spur domestic companies to build vehicles.
The government aims for 30 per cent of its public transport to be electric by 2030. With prime minister Narendra Modi emphasizing that he wants India to lead across the value chain from battery production to smart charging to electric vehicle manufacturing.
“Policies will be designed as a win-win for all who want opportunities in the automobile sector,” said Modi. Although he emphasized that public transport would remain the focus of the electric mobility push.
At present, India has only two electric car manufacturing companies, Tata motors and Mahindra. International car giants Hyundai and Kia Motors are developing electric fleets designed specifically for the Indian Market, with Kia signing a memorandum of understanding with Andhra Pradesh to aid in the growth of electric mobility in the state. Meanwhile, many cities planned trials of electric buses including Hyderabad, Chennai and Guwahati.
The issue of air pollution in Asia was discussed at the 2nd UN Science Business Policy Forum in Nairobi in March 2019. Dechen Tsering, regional director of Asia-Pacific for UN Environment, said that the Indian private sector had shown a lot of interest in developing electric cars, but the problem was still battery prices.
“They are struggling with how to avoid importing everything,” Tsering said. “They are trying to find out how much is available on the domestic market.”
The issue of renewable energy components availability in lower-middle income countries, remains a challenge. Often essentials such as solar panels or lithium batteries are not produced locally, or at least not at scale, which prevents the private sector from entering renewable energy infrastructure. Yet 92 per cent of Asia and the Pacific’s population— about 4 billion people—are exposed to levels of air pollution that pose a significant risk to their health.
According to the report Air Pollution in Asia Pacific: Science-based Solutions, if governments adopted 25 clean air policy actions—including promoting the use of electric vehicles— there would be less of a need for expensive pollution control. While the US$300-600 billion per year investment would be only one twentieth of the increase of US$12 trillion increase in wealth by 2030.
Arnico Kumar Panday, regional programme manager for atmosphere at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, said that it was possible to create a rapid uptake of electric vehicles in Asia through taxes. He gave the example of Nepal, where cars running on petrol and diesel are taxed at 220 per cent when purchased, while electric cars at 10 per cent.
“The same car is cheaper as an electric than it is petrol or diesel,” Panday said.
Meanwhile, Nobuyuki Konuma, from the Ministry of Environment of Japan, said his country had used two approaches in tackling the apprehensible air pollution of 1970s Japan.
First, they had put in place strict regulations on factories emitting greenhouse gases in the form of the Air Pollution Control Act. Second, they had set strict standards for emissions from vehicles, both passenger and freight. Vehicles who cleared the stern regulations could get tax reductions, which were a great incentive to buyers as Japan has heavy taxes on vehicles.
“So consumers were encouraged to select those cars,” said Konuma.
Of the US$1.4 billion released by the Indian government, about US$1.2 billion has been earmarked for subsidies, US$140 million for charging infrastructure, and some US$5 million for administrative expenses and advertising.
UN Environment’s e-mobility programme supports countries, particularly emerging economies, in introducing electric mobility. It helps governments to develop policies, exchange best practices, pilot technology options, track electric vehicle uptake, and calculate emissions and economic benefits.
