Vizagapatam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to focus in the next Union Budget on creating jobs in electric vehicle segment.
“We have been talking about the lack of jobs for millions of young people coming out of various educational institutions across the country each year. We are aware that the Union Government is seized of this matter,” VCCI president A.V. Monish Row said in a letter.
He said “what bothers us is that worldwide there is a tectonic shift in technology and India may once again be on the losing side. One sector that India is likely to fall behind is the automobile industry, particularly electric vehicles. We have seen increase in investment in electric car technology worldwide.”
He regretted that rapid shifts in the landscape had unnerved many in the industry. Like the phones and televisions of today, the cars of tomorrow might be distinguished less by how solidly they were built than by the software that runs them, and how cleverly they were designed and marketed. Already, Apple and Google-technology companies with a knack for giving people what they want-were exploring getting into the auto industry.
Mr. Row said “we know innovation happens in Silicon Valley and mass production in China. This is true of the electric vehicles as well unless the Government of India makes strong and rapid strides in both policy as well as focus.”
Referring to Niti Aayog, he said the think tank of the government had suggested that some benefits be given to the electric vehicle industry. Niti Aayog calculates that if India were to take electrification of the fleet seriously, it stands to save about 64% of the energy demand for road transport and 37% carbon emissions by 2030.
Also, the country had the possibility of saving up to $ 60 billion in diesel and petrol costs by 2030, he said adding the Union government had an opportunity in the coming budget to lay the foundations of this industry and anticipate the expected changes coming world-over, else it might be a case of being left behind again.
