AFP, New Delhi :
Electric cars bask in the limelight at India’s flagship auto show, where an ambitious plan to phase out polluting clunkers has manufacturers racing to lure millions of new drivers to their green vehicles.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government wants all new cars on India’s roads to be electric by 2030 to combat smog that routinely eclipses dangerous levels in the nation of 1.25 billion.
Some auto giants at the motor show in New Delhi have expressed reservations about the aggressive roll out, when so little of India is equipped to charge electric cars and most drivers cannot afford the hefty price tags.
But few are willing to risk a golden opportunity in the world’s fifth-largest car market, where owning a four-wheeler is a status symbol.
“We are a strong believer in electric, and with a leap of faith, we started investing even before the government announcement,” said Mahesh Babu, CEO of Mahindra Electric, currently the only company producing electric vehicles in India.
The Indian auto firm is a “pioneer in e-mobility”, investing $75 million in its electric fleet since 2010 with another $90 million earmarked as production ramps up in the next three years, Babu said.
Others are racing to produce competing models at lower prices, with Maruti Suzuki-India’s biggest maker of passenger vehicles-promising to launch an electric car in 2020.
Banking on big sales, Maruti has poured $180 million into a new plant to construct lithium-ion batteries in partnership with Japan’s Denso and Toshiba.
Tata Motors, part of the sprawling tea-to-steel conglomerate, in September won a contract to supply 10,000 electric cars for the government.
Electric cars bask in the limelight at India’s flagship auto show, where an ambitious plan to phase out polluting clunkers has manufacturers racing to lure millions of new drivers to their green vehicles.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government wants all new cars on India’s roads to be electric by 2030 to combat smog that routinely eclipses dangerous levels in the nation of 1.25 billion.
Some auto giants at the motor show in New Delhi have expressed reservations about the aggressive roll out, when so little of India is equipped to charge electric cars and most drivers cannot afford the hefty price tags.
But few are willing to risk a golden opportunity in the world’s fifth-largest car market, where owning a four-wheeler is a status symbol.
“We are a strong believer in electric, and with a leap of faith, we started investing even before the government announcement,” said Mahesh Babu, CEO of Mahindra Electric, currently the only company producing electric vehicles in India.
The Indian auto firm is a “pioneer in e-mobility”, investing $75 million in its electric fleet since 2010 with another $90 million earmarked as production ramps up in the next three years, Babu said.
Others are racing to produce competing models at lower prices, with Maruti Suzuki-India’s biggest maker of passenger vehicles-promising to launch an electric car in 2020.
Banking on big sales, Maruti has poured $180 million into a new plant to construct lithium-ion batteries in partnership with Japan’s Denso and Toshiba.
Tata Motors, part of the sprawling tea-to-steel conglomerate, in September won a contract to supply 10,000 electric cars for the government.
