India's electric vehicles market is expected to grow to one crore units annual sales mark by 2030, creating 5 crore jobs, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said.
Addressing the annual convention of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Gadkari, the Minister for Road Transport and Highways, also expressed hope that India will become the number one automotive manufacturing hub in the world in the future.
"India's EV market is expected to grow to one crore annual sales by 2030 and create five crore jobs," he said.
The minister further said the Indian EV market potential is likely to touch Rs 20 lakh crore by 2030 across the entire EV ecosystem, with an estimated EV finance market size of Rs 4 lakh crore.
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He also said the cost of lithium-ion batteries is expected to come down further, thereby helping in affordability and thus fuelling mass adoption.
"Today, about 30 lakh electric vehicles are registered in India," Gadkari said, adding electric two-wheelers accounted for 56 percent of total sales.
In 2023-24 there was a 45 percent increase in sales of EVs, and 400 startups in electric two-wheelers have already started manufacturing, he added.
Gadkari expressed confidence that with the government's efforts to encourage battery cell manufacturing in India through the PLI scheme. "India will be in a position to export our lithium-ion battery to different parts of the world going forward, as many companies are setting up their cell manufacturing facilities in the country," he said.
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Acknowledging the importance of the auto industry in India's economic development, the minister said the sector will play a key role in the mission of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government to make the Indian economy the third largest in the world.
"My dream is to make the Indian automobile industry the number one manufacturing hub in the world," he said, adding India is already the third largest passenger vehicle maker in the world and the largest two-wheeler market.
Asking automakers to take measures to promote old vehicle scrappage, Gadkari said discounts of up to 3 percent are being offered on new vehicles for scrapped vehicles by some players is just the beginning.
He said more is expected from the automakers.
Besides, he asked the companies to set up their own scrapping centres as well as fitness testing centres for old vehicles to make the auto scrappage policy a success.
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