Former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has emphasized the need for India to improve its electric vehicle (EV) capabilities, claiming that the nation was “selling typewriters in a digital age” and was lagging behind global leaders like China.
At the Green Bharat Summit in New Delhi, Kant emphasized the need for India to speed its EV adoption, saying, “China is more than 50% EVs, Europe is at 10%, and India is just 2%.”
To stay competitive, India should strive for 60% EVs by 2030 and 100% by 2035, according to the former head of the government think tank.
“We are five years behind the curve, and disruption will be rapid in the next five to six years,” he stated. According to the statement, “We are selling typewriters in a digital age,” and India needs to change swiftly to keep its market share.
About 34 million people are employed in the Indian auto industry, but he warned that if it doesn’t act quickly, it could lose out to the tech transition.
Additionally, Kant brought up the government’s 2021 vehicle production-linked incentive (PLI) program, claiming that “not a single penny has been used” under it. “The focus should be on scaling up EV production, not just looking at numbers,” he stated.
He urged the government to take advantage of international tariffs on China and capitalize on its standing as a friendly country to the US.
Kant commended Indian startups for spearheading the development of electric vehicles. “At least on two-wheelers, there are 1,432 startups but if you left it to legacy players, it could have been very different,” he stated. The “entrepreneur issue” behind this industry change is that producers need to have increased output far sooner.
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