India seeks electric car-fleet by 2030, petrol/diesel to be phased-out

Electric vehicles such as cars, bikes, etc. are powered by electric motors instead of gasoline engines.

The electric motors are regulated by controllers and receive power from rechargeable batteries.

Electric vehicles are an example of green technology as they do not produce emissions.

Notably, early automobiles were run by electric motors but had limited driving range and were eventually replaced by gasoline engines.

In order to promote fuel security, the government had launched National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020 to achieve the sales of 6-7 million electric and hybrid vehicles from 2020 onward.

The government would provide fiscal and monetary incentives to promote this nascent technology.

NEMMP expected to save 9.5 billion litres of fuel oil, translating into savings of Rs. 62,000 crore.

The government launched Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles (FAME India) in the union budget 2015-16 under NEMMP 2020 to provide a push to the sales of electric vehicles.

Under this scheme, monetary incentives were given to manufacturers to reduce the cost of electric vehicles.

The scheme aimed at early adoption and creation of a market for electric vehicle technology.

Electric vehicles sales in India grew by an impressive 37.5% to reach 22,000 units in the financial year ending 31st March 2016.

However, the share of electric cars continued to remain low as only 2,000 out of a total 22,000 electric vehicles sold last year were electric cars.

According to Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV), 16,000 electric vehicles were sold in 2014-15.

According to the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV), electric vehicles in India face various challenges.

Lack of ground level infrastructure such as charging stations, etc. and difficulties in availing credit facilities are affecting the sales of the electric vehicles.

The battery technology is still evolving. Although longer range and faster charging batteries are entering markets, they are still quite expensive.

In a bid to reduce India's ever growing dependence on fuel imports, the government seeks a full electric car fleet by 2030.

Power Minister Piyush Goyal said "The idea is that by 2030, not a single petrol or diesel car should be sold in the country."

He said the government sought to hand-hold the electric car industry until it stabilized.