If you are willing to buy an electric vehicle shortly but are set back by its high asking price, we have some good news for you. In the FY21 annual general meeting of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Mr Nitin Gadkari, has claimed that the prices of electric vehicles will come down and become equal to those of petrol and diesel cars by 2024.
Adding to his statement, Mr Gadkari claimed that around 250 startup companies are currently engaged in bringing cost-effective innovations in the field of electric mobility. In addition to this, there are limited offerings in the EV segment, due to which their asking prices are high. The arrival of more new manufacturers with their latest EV offerings will certainly reduce the production costs of electric vehicles in general.
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At the same time, Mr Gadkari also confirmed that the arrival of electric vehicles is not happening at the cost of registration of newer internal combustion engine vehicles. He mentioned that while registration of new IC-engine vehicles will not stop, the government is encouraging to shift focus towards alternative fuels like hydrogen and ethanol. In addition to introducing stricter emission norms for vehicles, the government is also working on increasing the composition of ethanol in petrol.
Gadkari said the same a few weeks ago
Gadkari placed a strong emphasis on the use of alternate fuels like ethanol and CNG and to reduce the dependency on conventional fuels like petrol and diesel. He claimed that around 80 per cent of the fossil fuel consumed in India is through imports from other countries, which is costing the government around Rs 8 lakh crore. If the dependency on fossil fuels will remain the same as how it is today, the import bills will see a significant rise up to Rs 25 lakh crore, which will eventually make them more expensive to buy for the common public of the country.
He also compared the running costs of petrol and electric vehicles, which mentioned that the running costs of electric vehicles are almost 6 times lower than that of petrol vehicles. Compared to Rs 12,000-15,000 spent for running a petrol-driven car, only Rs 2000 per month is being spent for running an electric vehicle.
Apart from introducing newer electric vehicles by carmakers and pushing for alternative fuels, the government is also working on strengthening the infrastructure for these vehicles. The National Highway Authority of India has already increased the pace of setting up charging infrastructure for EVs across the country. In addition, 38 per cent of the National Grid now supports solar power, which is the progress made in the right direction to achieve greener mobility.
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