Government all set to unveil EV plan

It has been in the making for a while and at the January Auto Expo, Minister of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises Praful Patel had said that the mission would be announced soon. It appears now that it is finally nearing completion and the National Mission Plan for Electric and Hybrid Vehicles, announced two years ago, is set to roll out by the month end.

The government is proposing several incentives to give the EV market a boost through various incentives with the actual schemes to follow the announcement between October 2012 and March 2013. The highlight is to have a market for five to seven million electric four-wheelers and two-wheelers by 2020.

The government is also planning a variety of incentives for production, R&D, manufacturing, marketing and purchase says Ambuj Sharma, joint secretary, department of heavy industries. He foresees the EV market growing to this potential targeted number. According to the National Hybrid / Electric Mobility Study conducted on behalf of the Union Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises and SIAM by Booz & Company, the breakup for the various segments will stack up as battery electric two-wheelers contributing 3.5-5 million, hybrid four-wheelers, buses and LCVs standing at 1.3-1.4 million and battery electric vehicles in other segments (three-wheelers, four-wheelers, bus and LCVs) accounting for 0.2-0.4 million.

This potential could trigger off an annual liquid fuel (petrol and diesel) savings of 2.2-2.5 million tonnes, annually saving crude oil worth an estimated Rs 13,000-14,000 crore by 2020.

The bulk of these fuel savings are likely to accrue from battery electric two-wheelers while four-wheelers are also expected to account for 20-25 percent, followed by buses, LCVs and three-wheelers in decreasing order. This is also expected to generate additional jobs of 60,000-65,000 through local manufacturing by the same period.

The ministry is also working on regulations for counterfeiting for which talks are underway with the automotive industry.

The global aftermarket beckons

Recently, ACMA hosted an international conference on the global automotive aftermarket and addressed growth opportunities and the need to explore exports.

The global automotive market varies significantly across regions driven largely by contrasting trends in vehicle-parc growth. While there are emerging economies with lower density of vehicles, traditional high-income matured markets such as the US, Europe and Japan, characterised by higher per capita vehicle ownership, are almost saturated with over 500 vehicles per 1,000 persons on an average.

According to ACMA president ArvindKapur, “India’s auto component industry has over the years, through continuous improvements surpassed stringent international quality standards and requirements. Today, almost 80 percent of our exports are to global OEMs and Tier 1s while the rest is to aftermarkets. With significantly well-defined and dominant aftermarkets in the US and Europe, the Indian auto component industry should focus attention on these and carve a niche for itself.”

The government is also planning schemes for the micro small and medium enterprises to facilitate sectoral growth. Some vital aspects to be kept in mind if the sector is to form part of the global supply chain are technology and finance feels C K Mishra, joint secretary ministry of MSMEs. He says that the ministry is providing a fillip to start-ups and easy options for exit in business. The conference saw consulting agency Frost & Sullivan release a concept note on opportunities and challenges in the global aftermarket.

SHOBHA MATHUR