Nitin Gadkari Says EVs Will Create 5 Crore Jobs In India
The Indian government is actively promoting electric vehicle sales and EV adoption among citizens. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari recently stated that the Indian EV market would generate 5 crore jobs by 2030. The market is predicted to touch Rs 20 lakh crore by then. The EV finance market is expected to touch 4 lakh crore rupees. He further said that nearly half of the air pollution in our cities is caused by the transport sector.
Gadkari was speaking at the ‘8th Catalyst Conference on Sustainability of E-Vehicle Industry – Evexpo 2024’ when he made these remarks. The minister says that fossil fuels are creating a lot of problems in India. One main concern is the financial challenges caused by fuel imports. Today, India’s fossil fuel imports amount to more than 22 lakh crore rupees. This, he says, is creating a lot of problems.
The government currently has a strong focus on green energy. Today, 44% of the country’s green power basket consists of solar energy. The government is prioritizing the development of hydropower, followed by solar, and biomass-based power solutions. The power basket and its structure play a key role in shaping the EV ground in our country.
Nitin Gadkari further talked about the shortage of electric buses. India, according to him, needs at least 1 lakh electric buses but the current capacity is just 50,000 buses. The government is actively urging more manufacturers to come up with innovations in the electric transport carrier segment. More companies could take the call, expand their factories and come up with competent products in the upcoming months.
India has the third-largest automotive sector in the world. It was valued at 7 lakh crore at the time when Gadkari assumed charge as the transport minister. The same has now grown to over 22 lakh crore rupees. Gadkari says that we have surpassed Japan and now rank below the USA (78 lakh crore) and China (47 lakh crore) in worth.
He further says that India needs to be in the top spot in the next five years and that with EVs, the future looks promising. We will have to compete with China in this space, which could be challenging for sure. The technology used in and quality of electric vehicles needs to be ensured.
The battery is the most important component of any electric vehicle. Local manufacturing of high-efficiency battery packs will contribute to the growth of the EV space. Many Indian giants like Tata, Adani and Maruti are already conducting R&D operations in this sector. Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is also into EV battery manufacturing.
EV charging stations are also expanding rapidly across India. There are currently 16,000 EV charging stations already set up, and 2,800 more are in plans.
India Government’s Focus On Infrastructure Development
Along with increasing its focus on sustainable mobility, Gadkari’s government is also actively working towards improving highways and infrastructure across the country. New highways are being constructed and existing ones expanded. In a previous incident, Gadkari even claimed that the Indian roads will be better than US roads by 2047- 23 years from now.
The government thus is particular about ensuring the quality of new roads that are being built. The minister said in a previous statement that strict actions would be taken against contractors who compromise on delivering quality. In fact, he slapped a fine of 50 lakh on the contractor responsible for building a bad patch of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway.