Electric Vehicles race begins: States draft policies to win EVs projects

After the central government made its intention clear on Electric Vehicles, many states in the countries have swung into action to capture the new investment involving automobile makers for manufacturing clean vehicles.

Gujarat, which seems to have a leadership position among many states in the race, is evaluating various options and policies to make the most of the EVs opportunity. It plans to offer incentives to manufacturers. The state has already got Rs 5000 crore worth investment commitment- Rs 4000 crore from JSW Group and Rs 1151 crore plan of Suzuki to set Lithium-ion battery unit with Toshiba and Denso.

According to earlier reports, Suzuki, which owns slightly more than 56 percent in Maruti Suzuki, could be considering joining the joint venture company headed by Toyota. Maruti Suzuki will be one of the biggest beneficiaries if parent Suzuki Motor Corporation enters the tripartite joint venture headed by Toyota for electric vehicle development.

Among other states, Karnataka and Telangana are working to frame a policy to support EVs. Karnataka, which has a presence of leading automobile companies, such as Toyota, Honda Motors, Volvo and Bosch, launched electric vehicle policy in 2017. The policy aims to attract Rs 31, 000 crore of investment.

According to Karnataka Industry Minister RV Deshpandey, the policy is going to be a game changer and will be a model for other states. We are planning to make supporting eco-system for EVs in the country, he said.

Telangana has also started working towards police for EVs. It is in consultation with industry experts and policy veteran to chalk out supportive policy for EVs. States like Maharashtra, Tamilnadu, and Haryana, which already have automobile manufacturing base are too eager to latch on the opportunity. But they have come out openly as far as policy framework is concerned.

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Mahindra and Mahindra, a lone electric vehicle maker in the country, is also reported to set up a manufacturing unit for EV in Pune. Last month, Chirman of M&M, Anand Mahindra called for attention towards opportunity that EV will throw for future. Reliance, Adani, the JSW, the Mahindra and the Hero groups of companies are also looking at the battery pack business. British automotive marque Morris Garages (MG) Motor India, which is in the process of establishing full-scale operations in India, is waiting for policy clarity before stepping in electric vehicles segment.

The govt goal is to get rid of petrol and diesel vehicles from Indian roads by 2030. Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari also in an interview made it clear that he wants home-grown automakers to be India’s Tesla. The automobile industry worth around Rs 4.5 lakh crore, is estimated to grow to Rs 25 lakh crore in next five-seven years.