New
Delhi:

As
demand and investments in the electric vehicles (EVs) industry being severely
hit due to disruptions caused by Covid 19 pandemic, the Federation of Indian
Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the apex business chamber in India,
has suggested government, a series of
measures to ensure continuity of the EV growth roadmap and to achieve targets envisioned
by the government for the industry in the next decade.

These
suggestions have been submitted to National Institution for Transforming India (NITI)
Aayog, Department of Heavy Industry, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
and other relevant authorities in the Government.

According
to FICCI, the factors responsible for adverse impact on the introduction of the
green technology in the country’s EV sector are such as reduction in demand for
automobiles, higher risk aversion among customers towards new technology,
disruption in supply chain, and uncertainty in oil prices due to Covid 19.

The
apex business chamber also observed that there may be a fall in shared mobility
demand, resulting to reduced demand for E3W and postponement of investments in
EV technology by local component makers.

Despite
these short term setbacks, FICCI strongly feels that India must continue to
encourage EVs along with all other electrified vehicle technologies (xEVs),
such as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), strong hybrid electric vehicles
(SHEVs) & fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and electrification of the
transport sector due to the long-term vision of our nation towards electric
mobility to lessen air pollution, achieve fuel security and technology
leadership in this sector.

FICCI’s
EV Committee has submitted its recommendations to the government to seek
immediate support from policy makers to enhance attractiveness for EVs in short
term and to encourage continued investments in the sector. FICCI has requested
the government to take certain steps urgently to prevent a derailment of the
sector and to help create demand; so that India can attain leadership in EV
technology and sales.

Shekar
Viswanathan, Chairman, FICCI Electric Vehicle Committee and Vice Chairman &
Whole Time Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motors said, “Worldwide the
automobile sector is undergoing transformation with various technologies and it
is essential that India is also a part of this change and take a leadership
role. Therefore, for innovative and vibrant industry and to attract investments
for newer technologies, it is necessary that the government policies are
technology agnostic. The key national objective to be met is the reduction of
carbon emission. Just as the government has wisely introduced BS VI fuel ahead
of time, India must encourage all those technologies that will progressively
reduce carbon footprint.”

To
ensure sustainability of EV off-take in the country as well as possible
measures to attract investment for EV parts manufacturing specially in the wake
of global development, Sulajja Firodia Motwani, Co-Chair of FICCI EV Committee
and Founder and CEO of Kinetic Green said, “We should pitch to encourage
existing auto component makers to invest in EV components and also to attract
investment in India for EV and EV components, especially battery, powertrain
components like electric motors, controllers, chargers, converters etc. For
this to happen, it is critical that steps are taken urgently for demand
creation for EVs in India is created, otherwise we will suffer a chicken and
egg situation.”

Palash
Roy Chowdhury, Co-Chair, FICCI EV Committee and Co-Founder, Chairman & MD
of Smart E said, “We should outline a clear nationwide policy to phase out
old – pre BS IV ICE vehicles being used in public transport. Under this policy
a set of pilot cities (with most pollution and urban congestion) can be selected
with a time-bound policy roadmap to mandatorily phase out polluting public
transport vehicles. The roadmap should be designed to incentivise vehicle
conversion/migration to environmentally sustainable electrified vehicle
technologies starting with the lowest capital impact category, such as
2/3-wheelers, followed by public transport buses and then 4W taxis.”

Majority
of road-based public transport in the country continues to use large-scale ICE
vehicles, including significantly high number of polluting ones. Due to
vehicles not being phased out in a timely manner, our cities continue to bear
the brunt of polluting vehicles while causing delays in adoption of newer,
efficient mobility systems, thereby limiting the overall growth potential of
emerging new technologies.

FICCI
recommendations submitted to the government

• Continuation
  of FAME II scheme for 2 more years to 2025, along with short term ‘Booster
  Incentives’ under Fame II for 12 months to enhance demand. This should be done
  within the overall existing budget allocation of Rs 10,000 crore for Fame II.
  This booster incentive will help create demand for EVs in short run and
  continue momentum.
• Extend
  subsidy support for E2W and E3W with swappable battery to encourage EV
  eco-system creation.
• Encourage
  states to finalise EV policies considering all electrified vehicle technologies
  and implement EV policies already announced by the states, including waiver of permits
  for EVs, which is already notified under CMVR.
• Retail
  finance for EVs should be made part of priority sector lending, for higher
  financing availability by banks to EVs.
• To
  promote e-buses, a review should be taken to improve the e-buses procurement
  criteria and scheme design under FAME II with industry consultation.
• Rs
  10 crore R&D support towards setting up in-house R&D infrastructure to
  come up with Make in India Product and develop advanced technology for EV two
  wheelers
• Create
  a policy/guideline to incentivise all major e-commerce players convert their
  last-mile delivery operations to all-electric by 2025, beginning with year-wise
  targets (20 per cent by 2021, 50 per cent by 2023 and 100 per cent by 2025).
• In
  order to ensure quality, only manufacturers with DSIR approved R&D center
  to be qualified to get their products approved under FAME II.
• Extend
  adequate & proportionate support to all xEV technologies in order to
  promote investments for electric powertrain parts localisation and announce
  clear policy to promote battery cell manufacturing in India to incentivize
  local players to invest in this area and create roadmap to move away from
  import of lithium ion cells.