Nitin Gadkari believes EVs will be as affordable as petrol vehicles by 2023

Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Roads, Transport, and Highways, made this statement during the second annual Zee Auto Awards 2022: by 2023, the price of electric cars would be comparable to that of petrol-powered automobiles. Furthermore, the Union Minister said that sales of electric vehicles in India grew by 800 percent across all vehicle segments. 

Currently, electric vehicles in India are in great demand but somewhat out of reach due to their high price. Especially for the category of 4-wheelers, this holds true. With a price tag of Rs 8.49 lakh (ex-showroom), the Tata Tiago EV is India's most affordable electric car. Despite being under 10 lakhs, it is still too pricey for many automobile buyers, particularly those on a limited budget.

In India, registrations for EVs were over 17 lakh in 2018. Gadkari also emphasised that the government's aim is to convert all of the country's 1.5 lakh state transport buses into electric ones; presently, 93% of buses operate on diesel, and many of them are outdated and unsuitable.

Nitin Gadkari made a few more statements during the second annual Zee Auto Awards 2022. Nitin Gadkari has said that the government wants to increase the number of double-decker buses in order to entice more tourists to visit India. The Minister has said that the government intends to reduce the cost of air-conditioned double-decker bus tickets in order to make them more accessible to the general public.

A few months ago, the first Switch Mobility-built electric double decker AC bus in India arrived in Mumbai. The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Corporation has added two new electric buses to its fleet, one of which is the first air-conditioned double-decker bus in the nation (BEST). Over a hundred electric double-decker buses have been sold to the United Kingdom by Switch Mobility, an electric vehicle brand produced by Ashok Leyland, a commercial vehicle manufacturer based in India.

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India is all set to manufacture hydrogen cars in the near future, he said. "India is all set to manufacture Hydrogen cars and a process for the same has been started. In the current scenario, Hydrogen is produced via three methods - Black Hydrogen, Brown Hydrogen and Green Hydrogen," The minister went on to say that "Black Hydrogen" is created using coal, "Brown Hydrogen" employs petrol, and "Green Hydrogen" is generated using water.

"For this, we need electrolysers. They are used in separating Hydrogen from Oxygen. India has the maximum electrolysers in the world," he said.