DNA Money Edit: Focus on electric vehicles a step in right direction

Union minister Nitin Gadkari's announcement on Monday that the government will be ready with electric vehicle policy by December for promoting eco-friendly vehicles is a step in the right direction. The minister said the pilot project of electric vehicle transportation is ready to be launched in Nagpur on May 26, which will include 200 electric taxis and an electric bus which may be replicated by other cities.

According to industry estimates, the adoption of electric and shared vehicles could save about $60 billion in fuel cost to the country which has so far been spending a considerable chunk of its foreign exchange over it. The move is likely to bring down over 1 gigatonne of carbon emission by the end of next decade. A report by government think tank Niti Aayog estimates that India can conservatively save up to 64% of anticipated passenger mobility-related energy demand and 37% of carbon emissions by 2030. At current oil prices, this would imply a net usual fuel cost saving of approximately 3.9 lakh crore by 2030, the report said.

Though certain issues like lack of related infrastructure and awareness remain a cause of concern, the automobile industry is already looking with a lot of hope. As in minister's own words, a considerable number of companies have already shown interest in investing in electric vehicles and the related infrastructure.

Also, the decision by the Supreme Court of India in March-end, when it declared banning of BS-III vehicles by the end of March 2017 came as a shot in the arm to combat the polluting technology and jump to the cleaner ones. The court order has also given a strong signal to those automobile companies which were taking the emission norms lightly and were dilly-dallying the introduction of BS-IV vehicles in the market.