More Electric Vehicles Than Conventional Vehicles On Indian Roads By 2050: Nitin Gadkari

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has assured that there will be more electric vehicles than the conventional ones in India by 2050.

Gadkari’s projection takes into consideration both technological advances and the government’s gradual reinforcement towards developing a domestic renewable automobile industry.

“Both battery electric vehicle and fuel-cell vehicle technologies are complimentary to each other and are all set to overtake fossil-run automotive by 2050,” the senior minister said during the HT Auto EV Conclave.

He added, “Indigenous battery tech, localisation of components and huge domestic demand would make EVs the most affordable means of transport in coming years.”

Gadkari explained that the ministry has been stimulating innovation on batteries as the crucial electric vehicle component makes up for at least 50 per cent of the upfront cost.

He admitted tracking research on alternatives for the lithium-ion batteries such as zinc-ion, sodium-ion and also aluminum-ion batteries. Gadkari also indicated that the scrapping of old vehicles can increase the availability of several low-cost raw materials.

The 64-year-old added that the capital cost of mass producing EVs will be on a similar level as that of other fuel vehicles right now. “We are aggressively pursuing research on green hydrogen as a transport fuel,” the cabinet minister further quipped, as reported by the Hindustan Times.