Mr. Sohinder Gill, CEO Hero Electric says – Electric vehicle sale hasn’t been anything to write home about. Union budget 2016-17 could have a positive outlook to this trend. For the mission to be goal oriented, govt and industry needs to make efforts to put about 1 million electric vehicles on Indian roads within a year. Customers need to convert to EVs. The multitude of two-wheelers used in commercial applications should be electric bikes by mandate. Government needs to announce long-term commitment to electric mobility and not keep those involved guessing. Investments can only be secured based on 5 to 10 years clear policy and outlay. Electric vehicle segment growth needs to be encouraged through better coordination between various ministries and departments. Custom offices compel electric two-wheeler manufacturers to pay 5 times the import duty on a drive motor by listing it a rim and not an electric motor. Public charging infrastructure installations in about 100 cities will support electric vehicles. The budget should encourage infrastructure support in the impending year. Union budget should direct public banks to offer loans for electric vehicle purchases. About 60 percent of auto purchases are facilitated through financing but EV’s don’t benefit from such policies. Government and public sector offices introduce electric vehicles to their fleet and offer incentives for purchases to encourage employees to purchase EVs.
