NITI Aayog’s, Shri Rajiv Gauba has called EV adoption an economic and strategic imperative as India launches its second Electric Mobility Index.
Shri Rajiv Gauba, addressing the NITI Aayog Workshop on State EV Policies where the second edition of the India Electric Mobility Index (IEMI) report was launched, said the global transition to electric mobility was well underway. He noted that in 2025, electric cars accounted for around one-tenth of new car sales in the US, more than a quarter in the EU, and over half in China, with these shares expected to rise significantly worldwide in the coming years. He pointed to the recent West Asia crisis as a potential major inflection point for electric mobility, comparing it to how the oil crises of the 1970s accelerated the global push towards greater fuel efficiency.
Describing the shift as an economic, environmental and strategic imperative for the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, Shri Gauba highlighted India’s dependence on imports for nearly 89 per cent of its crude oil requirements, a dependence likely to increase as car ownership rises if EVs are not adopted more widely. He noted that the automotive sector contributes around 7.1 per cent of GDP and supports nearly 1.9 crore jobs, underscoring the importance of aligning the sector with the global shift to electric vehicles. He also pointed to the significant public health costs of vehicular emissions in cities such as Delhi, calling the transition to cleaner mobility an urgent priority.
He outlined government support totalling over ₹92,000 crore through schemes including FAME, PM E-DRIVE and PM E-bus Sewa, alongside two production-linked incentive schemes for Automobiles and Auto Components and for Advanced Chemistry Cell battery storage. He also highlighted the rapid expansion of the EV charging ecosystem, driven by oil marketing companies and private players, noting that the newly launched Unified Bharat e-Charge app is expected to further strengthen the ecosystem by making charging infrastructure more accessible and convenient for users.
On states, Shri Gauba said 29 of India’s 36 states and union territories had notified EV policies, with IEMI scores showing broad-based improvement, the highest state score rising from 77 to 84 and the median score from 36 to 40 over the past year. He said the Index offered a data-driven framework to help states monitor progress and formulate evidence-based policies, and emphasised that differences in states’ e-mobility experience, shaped by their industrial base, fiscal capacity and geography, were not a complication but a strength, provided states learned from each other. He urged states to prioritise electrifying public transport in select cities, ensure charging infrastructure is spatially well-distributed and reliable, and promote investment in research and innovation.
Source: Press Information Bureau
