India hopes that they will become the future global hub for electric cars production since their government eased several government regulations and offered incentives.
Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, said that the Indian government will provide tax deduction of 150,000 rupees (approximately $2,185) on the interest paid on loans to purchase electric cars. Buyers of electric cars can accrue approximately 250,000 rupees in total benefits.
Puneet Gupta, associate director of automotive forecasting at IHS Markit, said: “The government is trying to create demand, to spur demand, and thus help (original equipment manufacturers). I think the first thing is to kickstart the demand because, right now, if you see, we’re selling less than 2,000 electric vehicles in a year, which is almost negligible. You’re not targeting the mass, you’re still targeting a limited population.”
The global electric car market is rapidly expanding. China, the United States, and countries belonging to the European Union make up the majority of this market.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) released a report in which they say that there were more than 5.1 million electric cars in the entire world in 2018, 2 million more than there were in 2017. China is still the biggest electric car market and it is projected that by 2030, they will own 57% of the global electric car market.
India still has a long way to go before electric cars become a common sight on their streets and roads. Concerning this, Gupta said: “We’re not talking about 20%, 30%, 50% electric vehicle market. Here, we’re just talking about (kickstarting) the electric vehicle market share. If Indians are convinced, things can change very fast.”
Related: A New Wave of Electric Cars Shown Off at the Detroit Auto Show
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