Short Bytes: If the latest announcement by the Indian Union Minister Piyush Goyal comes to fruition, the cars plying on Indian roads would be all electric by the year 2030. The government plans to support the electric automobile industry in the mass rollout and build the necessary infrastructure required for charging the electric cars.India finds its cities in the list of the world’s most polluted places, but the latest announcement will make the air clearer for the citizens.
Piyush Goyal, the Union Minister for renewable energy, coal, and mines, spoke at the Confederation of Indian Industry Annual Session 2017 on April 28. Goyal discussed plans for the future of the automobile industry in India while speaking on Changing Energy Economics and India.
By 2030, the government wants to materialize their hard-to-achieve dream of the making all cars electric. The move will also reduce the costs currently borne by the government for import of petroleum and related products.
“We are going to introduce electric vehicles in a very big way. We are going to make electric vehicles self- sufficient like UJALA. The idea is that by 2030, not a single petrol or diesel car should be sold in the country.”
For those who are unaware, UJALA is a government subsidy scheme for increasing the adoption of LED lights among the general public.
This significant change would reduce the pollution levels in the country. Goyal said that the automobile industry would receive support from the government during the initial years. Maybe, the government has plans to introduce some subsidy in the electric car segment as well. After that “the cost of electric vehicles will start to pay itself for its customers.”
One of the biggest challenges in the mass electric car rollout is the infrastructure which involves building a massive network of charging stations and above that generating enough electricity to fuel millions of cars breezing on the roads.
India’s increasing market share of solar energy production is going to pay a considerable contribution.
According to Goyal, the government would first push electric cars in highly polluted and demanding areas like Delhi. As far as charging is concerned, instead of plugging in your car to a power source, Goyal suggested swapping pre-charged batteries at charging stations so the vehicles could be juiced up within a couple of minutes.
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