Govt. asks auto companies to start manufacturing electric vehicles, to come up with policy soon

The government has reportedly asked automobile companies to start manufacturing electric vehicles in the country and is currently working on a policy surrounding electric mobility and storage.

“We want electric vehicle manufacturers and also the people in renewable storage to set up their facility in India. We have a huge, ambitious target, and storage is the future of it,” a senior government official told ET.

Last month power minister RK Singh said that he had called a meeting of electric vehicle and storage system manufacturers and asked them to start investing in these sectors..

“We are working to make India a manufacturing hub, and we would work on a policy which should facilitate that. We have started discussions with various stakeholders and we will try to bring in the right kind of policies at the right point of time,” said the official to the publication.

Interestingly the manufacturers are keen on manufacturing EVs in India, but the government so far has no plans to offer incentives for the manufacturers. However, Industry is still optimistic and is looking for rise in demand for electric vehicles as a result of government’s policies.

Sources close to the development said that the framework for electric vehicle ecosystem will fall under the government think tank Niti Aayog.  Niti Aayog is expected to anchor this in a manner that roles and responsibilities of various ministries involved are defined and coordinated.