Must not repeat past mistakes in EV market: Niti Aayog CEO

India must learn from its mistakes made in the field of electronics manufacturing to avoid committing them in the field of electric mobility, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said on Friday.

Making India a global leader in electric vehicle manufacturing would facilitate the shift from a sunset to a sunrise area of industry, Kant said in a speech to the Round Table Conference organised by the ministry of heavy industries.

“In the last 70 years, India has always been getting into the sunset areas of industry. And by the time you get into the sunrise areas of industry, it is too late. By that time, the Chinese and other countries have already taken the market and they have the size and scale. And once they have the size and scale, you’ll never be able to penetrate global markets,” Kant said. “Therefore, we say that you get into the sunrise areas of the future and if you get into these areas, you will become a global champion.”

“Those countries that go digital and go green will attract valuation and investment, and those that do not go green and digital will go dead. There will be no future for those countries. This disruption is absolutely clear. …by 2025, there will be no combustion two-three wheelers left,” he added.

Urging industries to make India the centre of manufacturing for both the Indian and global markets, Kant said: “One of the lessons we learnt was that in the case of mobile phones, where the market grew in India, but we became import-dependent. What we learned in solar is that the market grew in India, but we became import-dependent. Let us not make that mistake in the world of mobility. We must make India the centre of manufacturing, both for the Indian market and for the rest of the world. And that is now dependent on all of you… to make the states of India the centre of manufacturing.”

“Our vision is battery storage, green hydrogen and renewables. And we are not talking about India. We are talking about making India the biggest player in the world. India must become the biggest manufacturer of battery storage, of green hydrogen, the biggest exporter of green hydrogen, the biggest exporter of battery storage… Don’t look at India. Look at the world as your market,” he told the gathering.

“Therefore, my belief is that… if you do not bring in technology or you do not go green, India will lose out.”

The ongoing round table is being organised to bring together all stakeholders from central government, state governments and Union territories, leaders of auto equipment makers and automotive component manufacturers, battery storage entrepreneurs, start-ups and technical experts, and work out strategies to promote adoption of electric vehicles, and attract investment in manufacturing of electric vehicles, batteries and high technology automotive components in the country.

Transport ministers of most states and representatives of private automobile industries were among those who attended the event.