The Rise of Electric Vehicles

Who would have predicted the tremendous growth of the Indian Electric Vehicle industry two decades ago, but it has emerged as one of the fastest-growing industries in India. India has broken into the top 3 car markets in the world in the year 2022, Government Of India is pushing hard for the adoption of Electric Vehicles as a substitute for traditional petrol/diesel vehicles.

There are various segments in which we can see electric vehicles in India, two-wheelers, three-wheelers, passenger vehicles, and commercial vehicles.

Electric rickshaws comprise 83% of the total electric vehicles in the country, and the market size of these three-wheelers is growing rapidly. Around 1 Million pedal rickshaws are moving on the streets of India, and eventually, all of them will be replaced. The market is huge and most of it is unexplored. Adding to it, it has now become very important to move towards a green economy and reduce carbon footprints. To achieve this goal of a sustainable and green economy, a handful of countries have come together. The initiative is called the EV30@30 campaign, which aims at pushing EV sales to at least 30% of the total vehicle sales by 2030 worldwide. As part of this, the Indian government has signed a Memorandum of Union with the Australian government.

The Government of India has also made a few promises named 'Panchamrita' at the 2021 COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference to give a push to the EV30@30 campaign. The promise made under 'Panchamrita' are :

• Increasing non-fossil energy capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030
• Providing 50% of India's overall energy needs through renewable energy.
• Reducing carbon emissions by 1 Billion tonnes by 2030.
• Reducing carbon intensity by 45% by 2030
• Achieving net zero by 2070.

Government's initiatives have started to show results, Indian minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari said, "two-wheeler EVs rose by 422%, 3-wheelers by 75%, and 4-wheelers by 230% between 2019 and 2021. The number of electric buses also increased by over 1200% during this period."

We can say that India is emerging as an EV power, but there is a lot to do before we reach that level, and to do that in a very sustainable way, the MSMEs of the country will play a very big role. A lot of infrastructural development is still required and hence a lot of opportunities are out there for a nation like India