The government is considering stronger measures to accelerate the adoption of electric trucks as heavy vehicles emerge as a key challenge in India's transition away from imported petroleum, Tarun Kapoor, Advisor to the Prime Minister, said.
Kapoor said the shift towards cleaner transport needs to happen much faster, with trucks and buses now requiring greater attention after progress in electrification across two-wheelers and growing traction in passenger vehicles.
“My main concern is heavy vehicles, particularly trucks,” Kapoor said.
He indicated that the government is examining several ways to improve the economics and adoption of electric trucks, including policy and taxation measures, financing models, battery swapping and a wider highway charging network.
“This is an area where a lot of thought is now going on in the government also,” Kapoor said. “So please expect some major things to come from our side, and the industry has to be prepared for that.”
He did not spell out the measures or provide a timeline for their announcement.
Incremental Transition Will Not Be Enough
Kapoor said the scale of electric-truck deployment needs to increase sharply if India is to make a meaningful dent in diesel consumption.
Existing programmes have created an initial market, but the volumes remain small compared with overall truck sales, he said.
The PM E-Drive scheme has a provision to support 5,643 electric trucks, but Kapoor argued that even this is a relatively small number compared with the size of the market.
“If we want to set a timeline for ourselves, then we should see very major transition in the next five years,” he said.
“Those incremental changes will not really help us. It has to be very major.”
Kapoor urged manufacturers to think in terms of scaling deployments by multiples rather than discussing projects involving only a few hundred vehicles.
“We want the whole landscape to change,” he said.
Diesel Dependence Drives Urgency
Kapoor linked the electric-truck push directly to India's energy security.
He said the transition is particularly important because India cannot easily become self-sufficient in petroleum products and demand is likely to continue increasing.
Recent geopolitical uncertainty in West Asia has reinforced the need to reduce dependence on imported fuels.
“This change in the transport sector has to happen much faster,” Kapoor said.
While electrification of passenger vehicles can reduce petrol consumption, diesel use must also fall, he argued.
“If the petrol part starts reducing, we can't allow diesel to stay at the same level. So that also has to be reduced.”
Some movement towards CNG has already taken place in heavy vehicles, but India now needs to “move into electric in a big way”, he said.
Cost, Financing And Charging Remain Hurdles
Kapoor acknowledged that electric-truck manufacturers continue to face challenges in building demand.
Vehicle costs remain high, the market is still small and domestic value addition needs to increase, he said.
The government and industry therefore need to find ways to bring down vehicle costs and develop financing models that make electric trucks viable for fleet operators.
Battery swapping is one possibility, while better charging coverage along highways could also help.
Kapoor said placing chargers at shorter intervals could allow manufacturers and operators to use smaller batteries, potentially reducing vehicle costs.
Charging infrastructure will therefore have to expand alongside manufacturing.
Parivartan Could Push Fleets Directly Towards Electric
Kapoor also pointed to the Parivartan programme in the National Capital Region as one way of accelerating the replacement of older commercial vehicles.
The programme is aimed at removing older, more polluting trucks from the road.
While the scheme allows replacement with BS6 vehicles, Kapoor said the preference is to move towards electric vehicles wherever possible.
“We would like to go to electric because otherwise then we will go to BS6 and then we will go to electric,” he said.
That would result in a two-stage transition, instead of replacing older vehicles directly with electric alternatives.
Kapoor said state EV policies could further influence the choice of replacement vehicles.
He also expects measures similar to those introduced in the NCR to eventually emerge in other regions.
More Restrictions Likely
Kapoor warned manufacturers that policy pressure on conventional vehicles is likely to increase.
Restrictions have already begun in Delhi and the surrounding region, he said. “In other areas also they may start kicking in. So therefore we have to prepare for that.”
He was even more explicit while discussing passenger vehicles.
“On the four-wheeler side I can tell you that more and more restrictions will come,” Kapoor said.
His message to manufacturers was to prepare for the transition rather than assume conventional powertrains will continue under the existing regulatory environment indefinitely.
Large Fleets Could Create Early Electric-Truck Demand
The government is also looking at large fleet operators as a possible way to build scale.
Kapoor pointed to sectors such as mining and coal, where large numbers of heavy vehicles are used and where the government has direct or indirect influence.
Such operators could transition earlier, helping create a sizeable initial market for electric trucks.
Kapoor said some “push” could come in government-linked sectors to speed up the transition.
Creating concentrated demand could help manufacturers expand production, improve localisation and ultimately reduce costs.
Industry Asked To Propose Solutions
Kapoor said the government wants manufacturers and other industry participants to suggest ways of accelerating the transition rather than waiting for policy to provide all the answers.
“I would request that the industry should give us ideas on how we can move faster,” he said.
The broader objective, he said, should be to reduce India's dependence on imported energy while simultaneously developing domestic manufacturing and technology capabilities.
“We have to support and you have to drive this,” Kapoor said.