If electric vehicles stood at about 20-25% of the total vehicles registered in 2025, India could consider that it had done a “splendid job,” the CEO of Tata Motors, Guenter Butschek, said on Tuesday.
The Centre has proposed moving to 100% electric vehicles by 2030, though the auto industry has recommended that the country should target 40% of personal vehicles and 100% of public transport vehicles to turn electric by then. It has suggested 2047 as the target for all-electric passenger vehicles.
Addressing a group of editors, Mr. Butschek stated that strong growth in the electric vehicle segment would also lead to the automatic promotion of fuel cell vehicles as well.
In a presentation, the CEO claimed that India could be the world’s third largest auto market by 2026, with a revenue of $300 billion. The auto industry was looking at growth of 10-15% for the next five years.
He claimed that all industry players did not have a “level playing field” as they moved to implement BS-VI standards by April 1, 2020. Asked to elaborate, he said that some of Tata Motors’ competitors already had off-the-shelf technology in other parts of the world, which they could bring to India. In response to another question, Mr. Butshchek denied that Tata Motors was asking for any kind of “protection”.
Repeatedly stressing in his comments that “smart mobility” was linked to “smart cities”, he argued that a new kind of ecosystem was required for the promotion and use of electric vehicles.
According to the Tata Motors CEO, a different standard of infrastructure and a new kind of service station would be required to cater to electric vehicles. “These vehicles will be an extension of your digital space.”
India, he stated, needed solid competency in the manufacturing of electric vehicles. For instance, countries like South Korea and China had already established competencies in this field.
