The government is setting up a new body, with a corpus of up to Rs 200 crore, that will help companies develop environment-friendly technologies for hybrid and electric vehicles, joint secretary at ministry of heavy industries said.
The National Electric Mobility Mission will try to promote eco-friendly technologies as an alternative to use of non-renewable fuels such as petrol and diesel that dominate the Indian car and two-wheeler market. This will also help control air pollution in the country.
Electric vehicles offer lower running cost and maintenance, but have failed to catch the consumers fancy despite various tax benefits due to higher product prices and other factors influencing their cost of ownership. “There are several players in India making different kind of electric vehicles, but lack of infrastructure to charge these vehicles and the high-price of hybrid cars has prevented growth,” said Ambuj Sharma, joint-secretary, ministry of heavy industries.
The electric two-wheeler industry, with over three-dozen manufacturers, has an installed capacity of around 10 lakh units a year, but annual sales are restricted to around a lakh units only. Bangalore-based Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles has managed to sell only a few hundred electric cars in India so far. The cost of electric cars and hybrids are almost double that of petrol-fuelled vehicles due to expensive battery and intricate technology. Global car makers like Toyota and Honda had launched their hybrids in India, but could barely sell few hundred units due to the high price tag.
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