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India To Back Way Down from 100% Electric Target for 2030

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Ah, the heady days of 2016, when the year brought some terrible pollution to several capital cities throughout the world. India, in particular, made a bold move by saying that it would have a 100%-EV car market by 2030.


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Now, two years after taking this hardline stance, that hard line is starting to look a bit more like a fuzzy smudge. According to a report from Nikkei Asian Review, the Indian government has decided to dial that 100% figure way, way back. So, now the country will be shooting for, apparently, the far more mellow figure of 30% by 2030.

This decision is expected to become more official in a few weeks when Power Minister R.K. Singh releases the ministry’s policies and rules for EVs and EV charging stations. However, Singh has already commented at an official lunch presentation that the country has to make sure that “by 2030, 30% of out vehicles run on electricity,” in order to “leave behind a better world for our grandchildren.”

Apparently Singh isn’t the only Indian government official to want to roll back that particular goal, as the minister for road transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari said last month that he didn’t think India needed an electric-car initiative at all.


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Overall, the government seems to think the lower goal is far more achievable, but critics like consultant Deepesh Rathore of Emerging Markets Automotive Advisors say that a gentler policy could make it even less likely to be achieved. Rathore commented that what India needs is “charging infrastructure and a clear-cut policy direction … but the government has sadly not delivered.” He added that this 30% goal suggests only that drivers might want to consider an electric car, rather than it being the only choice.

News Sources: Green Car Reports, Nikkei Asian Review