India should adopt a targeted approach to electric vehicle adoption by focusing on high-use sectors such as mining, ports and commercial transport, rather than pursuing a one-size-fits-all strategy, Tarun Kapoor, Advisor to the Prime Minister in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), said on Wednesday.
Speaking at ASSOCHAM's National Conference on Building India an Electric Mobility Hub, Kapoor suggested identifying specific sectors and corridors where electrification could be accelerated with the necessary charging infrastructure and policy support.
"You want to target very specific sectors, mining, ports... having selected areas that they want to transform completely, where charging infrastructure is also available... so that these vehicles can ply without any problems on those roads. So perhaps we need a very, very targeted kind of approach," Kapoor said.
He said reducing the upfront cost of electric vehicles would also be important, suggesting that innovative financing mechanisms, including separate battery acquisition or third-party ownership models, could help make EVs more affordable for buyers and fleet operators.
"Can we support separate acquisition of batteries, or can that be a third-party activity? Maybe with a little innovation on the financial side, we can bring the cost down to a level where everyone would probably want to do it," he said.
Kapoor also called on large commercial vehicle users to play a greater role in the transition, saying organisations operating truck fleets should consider progressively increasing the share of electric vehicles in their procurement as commercially viable products become available.
"We will be requesting the large users of trucks to come up with at least some percentage of electric truck acquisition. If we can come up with a model where whoever is using it understands that it can be done without becoming a burden, certainly they'll do it," he said.
He further said electrification efforts should extend beyond government-owned fleets to include school buses, employee transportation and private bus operators, supported by a combination of regulations, incentives and charging infrastructure.
Describing electric mobility as a national priority, Kapoor said India should rapidly scale deployment in applications where the technology is best suited while encouraging industry to invest in products, manufacturing capacity and new business models to accelerate the country's transition to cleaner transport.