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A paradigm change is currently taking place in the global automotive sector as it attempts to transition to alternative, less energy-intensive choices. India is making investments in this transition to electric mobility. Key drivers of India’s efforts to hasten the transition to e-mobility on the one hand and increasing consumer demand on the other are the burden of oil imports, rising pollution, the Russia-Ukraine war soaring price inflation, as well as international commitments to battle global climate change. If India continues to make steady progress toward achieving its lofty 2030 goal, the EV market in India will represent a US$206 billion opportunity by that time. This would necessitate an overall investment in vehicle manufacturing and charging infrastructure of approximately US$180 billion.
The Indian EV market got $6 billion in investment in 2021 and is progressively growing in appeal to investors in venture capital and private equity. India’s electric vehicle industry is still in its infancy, despite the nation’s lofty goals. In contrast, India offers the greatest unexplored market in the world, particularly in the two-wheeler market (Ather and Ola to be on the rise for now in India). Under the automatic approach, 100 percent foreign direct investment is permitted in this industry. In order for any technology to gain traction in the market, government regulations are essential.
The government of India seems to be on the lookout for that as well Public charging stations and EV charging enterprises are now considered unlicensed activities in India, according to the government. According to regulations set forth by the government, there must be at least one charging station every 25 km on both sides of highways and one station every 3 km x 3 km grid in urban areas. By 2022, all existing motorways and significant highways that connect megacities with a population of 4 million or more people or more will have this coverage. Large cities, such as state capitals and UT’s main campus, will be covered in the second phase (3 to 5 years). Plugin India-facilitated charging stations are one example of a community charging station effort. Plans to instal solar-powered charging stations at the nation’s current gas stations have been mentioned in news stories.
Companies like Tata Power, Fortum, and others are in the business of charging electric vehicles. They already have rapid DC chargers and level 2 AC chargers installed for a variety of uses, including public access, workplace charging, fleet charging, residential communities, malls, and highways, and they have ambitious ambitions to expand. The hardest task for India in terms of service integration would be building up the charging infrastructure, particularly the implementation of level 2 charging at the public level. For slow DC charging, cost & high renewable energy are the primary elements that could cause a problem. For standard charge, the charging time poses a serious challenge as it ranges from 6 to 8 hours. Additionally, it is expected that just 10% of the necessary charging infrastructure in India will consist of fast charging stations, with the remaining 90% coming from level 2 public charging setups.
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Tarun Kumar Taunk
Editor-In-Chief
