EV Transition a Long-Term Journey, Not a 4-6 Month Shift: Gadkari

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has reiterated that India’s move towards electric mobility will be a gradual, long-term process and not something that can be achieved overnight. Speaking at the 7th Auto Retail Conclave of the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), Gadkari underscored that the transition is part of a years-long structural shift that balances environmental goals with economic realities.

“Actually, it is a continuous process. Within four months or six months you are not going to replace all the vehicles. It is a process for years to come,” Gadkari said, responding to a question on the relatively slow pace of EV adoption, which remains around 10%, driven largely by two-wheelers and three-wheelers.

For Gadkari, the rationale for electrification is clear: India spends ₹22 lakh crore annually on fossil fuel imports and at the same time struggling with severe air pollution. “Imports substitute which is cost effective, pollution free and indigenous. This is the policy for the government,” he said.

Henoted that India is now in the process of producing a broad spectrum of electric vehicles, from cars and buses to trucks and even agricultural and construction equipment. He also highlighted the growing adoption of flex-fuel and hydrogen technologies as complementary pathways. “Today we are in the process of making electric cars, electric buses, electric trucks… and I am very much happy that in construction equipment, in agriculture equipment, they have already started making their equipment on flex fuel, on electric and even some of them on hydrogen.”.

Gadkari pointed to the rapid fall in lithium-ion battery costs from $150 per kilowatt-hour at the start of India’s EV journey to as low as $55 today, as a sign that parity between electric and petrol-diesel vehicles is within reach. “In due course of time the price of petrol-diesel vehicles and electric vehicles will be the same,” he said.

However, the transition is not without constraints. Manufacturing capacity is lagging behind demand, especially in buses. “The manufacturing capacity in the country for electric buses is 50,000 to 60,000 per year. And now our requirement is for one lakh buses. So naturally it is a problem for all of us that we need to increase production related with biofuel and electric,” he said.

Even as the domestic market expands, Gadkari sees export potential as a major opportunity. He noted that half of India’s two-wheeler production is already exported, and cited examples of electric construction machinery and electric trucks finding international buyers. “There is also a huge market for export. Our two-wheeler manufacturers, 50% of their production is already there. In construction equipment, JCB and even electric trucks have a huge market for export,” he said.

Recounting his own experience, Gadkari pointed out that just days earlier he had launched 25 electric trucks at Western coalfields. “Everywhere they are preferring to take electric trucks. Because of the cost of lithium ion battery, I think it is economically viable. It is import substitute, cost effective, pollution free and indigenous,” he stressed.

The conversation also turned to concerns flagged by industry leaders, including Maruti Suzuki Chairman RC Bhargava, about India’s dependence on China for critical minerals. Gadkari acknowledged the issue but emphasized India’s growing capacity for self-reliance. “Previously the situation was not good. But today we have started our production for semiconductors. In the same manner, our battery startups are doing excellent research — lithium ion, sodium ion, zinc ion, aluminum ion,” he said.

He added that recent discoveries of lithium deposits in India, along with a “very transparent and professional” mining policy, would ease access to critical minerals. Recycling, he argued, will also play a crucial role. “Regarding scrapping, already we can get a lot of good material, rare metals from scrapping, which we can recycle and use again,” he said.