NITI Aayog CEO pitches for no road tax on EVs

The government's premiere- policy think-tank NITI Aayog's CEO has said that there should be no road tax on electric vehicles in India, at the Energy Storage India 2019 conference in New Delhi.

Energy Storage India (ESI) is a leading international conference and expo addressing the need for energy storage, micro-grids and electric vehicle solutions in India, organised annually by Customized Energy Solutions (CES) and Messe Dusseldorf India powered by IESA (India Energy Storage Alliance).

The event saw policy makers assuring that right support is being provided for the smooth transition into electric mobility and make in India. While, the OEMs highlighted the unique challenges and right direction desired from the government in the country.

Speaking at the Make in India session at the event, Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog said, “We have proposed to the chief secretaries of the states that there should be no road tax for electric vehicles and issuing green permit for EVs. When the EV revolution happens, India would be impacted in the biggest way. These initiatives are being taken to bring the ownership cost of EVs at par with combustion vehicles. For India to successfully move away from fossil-fuel dependence Oil companies should become the Energy Companies of the future.”

”Energy storage can also fuel public transport revolution in a big way. We have proposed pay per kilometre model for buses to transform the public transportation system. Also a huge opportunities lies in the conversion of goods mobility fleets to clean fuels such  LNG as 78 percent of goods in India are transported through lorries. India must seize the 81 percent value that lies in battery manufacturing. Energy storage and battery present a huge opportunity which we should capitalise since India will be driving the growth of the auto sector in the future,” added Kant.  

Chairing the EV 360 session at Energy Storage India 2019, Anil Srivastava, director general, NITI Aayog said, “There is a genuine question from the people regarding the implementation and usability of the EVs, but there is a massive disruption that will happen fairly soon. A lot of policies have been made to accommodate advance products and systems but success cannot be achieved till we reach the scale our country has to offer. With over 20 favourable policies in place, not a single part used in e2Ws is being made in India. We are here to support the industry in every possible way so as to encourage indigenous manufacturing.”

Dr Rahul Walawalkar, executive director, India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) said, “With the anticipated launch of the National Energy Storage Mission and by creating polices for an accelerated energy storage adoption in the country, we can create significant interest for local manufacturing and system integration capabilities. We anticipate the energy storage market in India to grow to 300 GWh by 2025. Both Indian and global supply chain is gearing up to supply to this market. This could result in over $5 billion (Rs 35,257 crore) of investment in this sector by 2020.”

Thomas Schlitt, managing director Messe Düsseldorf India, said, ‘ESI 2019 is the biggest stage to debate, deliberate and discuss on key issues and opportunities for energy storage, smart cities, electricity to all, make in India, EV transformation and infrastructure needs of our times. This event has gained global attention and is getting bigger and better with every edition. With more than 500+ industry experts, 80+ speakers, 50+ partners and exhibitors participating from over 25 countries, ESI 2019 is certainly the driving force for National Energy Storage Mission.”

Speaking on the potential of India’s energy storage market, Stephen Fernands, founder and president, Customized Energy Solutions, said “Globally storage has moved from the periphery of the electric market and closer to centre stage; enabling greater concentrations of renewable generation, moving EV’s into the top tier of car sales, improving grid resiliency, and enabling a more distributed electric ecosystem. In no place in the world is the opportunity for adoption of energy storage greater than in India.”

The Energy Storage India 2019 is powered by India Energy Storage Alliance and organised by Messe Düsseldorf India and Customized Energy Solutions. The event is supported by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Ministry of Science & Technology, MNRE, Government of Kerala, and NITI Aayog along with key industry conglomerates.

The two day conference saw particpation from eminent industry leaders, think-tanks, scholars and policy makers including  Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog; Anil Srivastava director general, NITI Aayog; Praveer Sinha CEO and MD, Tata Power; Vijayanad Samudrala CEO, Amara Raja Batteries; Robert Pedraza, president, EnerBlu India & MENA Region; Anant Nahata, MD, Exicom Power Solutions; Dr A.K. Jindal, vice-president, and head Technical Commercial, Vehicles Engineering Research Centre, Tata Motors; Naveen Munjal,  MD, Hero Electric; Anil Gupta, MD, Okaya and Hemalatha T R, MD, Keltron, a government of Kerala Undertaking among others.