Electric mobility emerges as a critical pathway for developing nations to reduce transport emissions, strengthen energy independence, create millions of jobs, and accelerate sustainable urbanization through strategic policy alignment and infrastructure investment.
11 Oct 2025 | 2722 Views | By Devndra Chawla, GreenCell Mobility
The transition to a sustainable energy future has become an urgent priority for emerging economies striving to balance development, energy security, and environmental sustainability. While much attention is often placed on transforming power generation, the decarbonisation of the transport sector is just as essential.
In this context, electric mobility ...
This is an Autocar Pro Plus article. Subscribe to continue reading.
The transition to a sustainable energy future has become an urgent priority for emerging economies striving to balance development, energy security, and environmental sustainability. While much attention is often placed on transforming power generation, the decarbonisation of the transport sector is just as essential.
In this context, electric mobility (e-mobility) is emerging not only as a cleaner mode of transport but also as a key enabler in achieving broader energy and sustainability goals.
Why Transport Emissions Matter? Transport contributes significantly to carbon emissions in developing nations. According to the IEA Global EV Outlook 2024, the transport sector is responsible for around one-fifth of global emissions, and road transport has taken responsibility for the largest amount.
In India, the sector's emissions have followed a steady upward trend, driven by rising urbanisation and vehicle ownership. Transitioning to electric mobility—particularly in public and commercial segments—offers a viable path to reducing emissions while improving air quality in cities.
Besides this, fossil fuel dependency is reduced by electric mobility, a key concern for economies that have crude oil import as an article of trade. As per the records of the Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell (PPAC), Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, India imported 233.4 million tonnes of crude oil in FY 2023–24 with the import bill crossing USD 158.3 billion.
Such a heavy dependency adversely impacts national finances and leaves economies susceptible to energy price volatility at the global level. EV adoption will gradually help reduce such exposure by shifting transport energy consumption towards electricity generated within the country out of higher shares of renewables.
The combined use of electric vehicles powered by clean power is a fundamental part of sustainable urbanisation. As of March 2024, India's renewable energy capacity had surpassed 180 GW, with a national goal of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030 (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy).
When EVs are powered by this growing clean energy stream, they increase carbon savings, and if equipped with vehicle-to-grid technology and managed charging, contribute to grid stability.
In addition to emissions and energy independence, the electric mobility sector is ready to provide economic impetus. According to the NITI Aayog and RMI India 2024 update, India's EV transition could generate up to 12 million jobs by 2030 across manufacturing, infrastructure, services and research and development. This level of growth can be especially important in developing economies where generating employment is an explicit policy goal.
That said, unlocking the full potential of electric mobility requires systemic alignment across policy, infrastructure, and financing. India’s FAME-II scheme, extended into 2024 with additional incentives for electric buses and two-wheelers, is a positive example of government support.
Complementary initiatives like the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes for Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) batteries and EV components further encourage domestic capability-building.
Public transportation remains a high-impact area for early electrification. Buses, in particular, offer economies of scale, high daily utilisation, and predictable routes — all of which make them ideal for electrification.
As of April 2024, over 13,000 electric buses have been sanctioned under FAME-II, with several cities rolling out large-scale deployments through PPP models. This trend needs to accelerate further through viable financing mechanisms and well-integrated charging infrastructure.
Charging has slightly more importance on enabling EV adoption. By Q1 2024, India had installed upward of 12,000 EV public charging stations, but they were unevenly distributed.
The focus must, therefore, now shift toward availability across intercity corridors, rural markets, and high-density urban zones. Integration with renewable energy and digital platforms can help optimise usage and reduce operational costs.
Emerging economies are in a talent position to jump into a clean mobility model. To develop electric transport ecosystems that include charging infrastructure, battery infrastructure, vehicle infrastructure, and digital infrastructure, and to do so while developing future-ready cities, is an opportunity for emerging economies and the emerging economy automotive industry to further reduce reliance on imports and contribute to the climate agenda on a global scale.
Devndra Chawla is MD & CEO GreenCell Mobility. Views expressed are the author's personal.