Union minister Nitin Gadkari said the Indian electric vehicle market would create 5 million jobs and the market is likely to touch Rs 20 crore by 2030. He also blamed nearly half of pollution on air in the transport sector.

According to Gadkari, who was speaking at the ‘8th Catalyst Conference on Sustainability of Electric Vehicle Industry – Evexpo 2024’, “India’s electric vehicle market potential is Rs 20 crore by 2030, creating five million jobs work throughout the electric vehicle ecosystem.” The EV finance market is also expected to grow to Rs 4 billion by 2030.

Gadkari said fossil fuels are creating many problems in the country. “We import fossil fuel worth Rs 22 billion, this is a big economic challenge. And this import of fossil fuel is creating a lot of problems in our country,” Gadkari said.

The government is focusing on green energy as 44% of India’s energy basket is solar. He said that the highest priority is being given to the development of hydropower, followed by solar power and green power, especially from biomass.

The minister highlighted the shortage of electric buses. He said that India needs 1 lakh electric buses but the capacity is 50,000 buses. He urged auto companies to expand their factories without compromising on quality and said this is an opportune time to do so.

When he took over as transport minister in 2014, the size of India’s auto sector was Rs 7 billion, and today it is Rs 22 billion. “Our number is the third in the world. We have just overtaken Japan,” he said. India’s auto sector is the third largest in the world, after the US (Rs 78 billion) and China (Rs 47 billion).

He said that India has to rise to the top spot in the next five years. “The future of the sector is good. We have to compete against China in this sector. That’s why we need good technology and quality”, he said.

The minister stated that lithium-ion battery manufacturing is important, and companies like Tata, Adani and Maruti are in the process of manufacturing batteries. India has 16,000 electric vehicle charging points and 2,800 are in the pipeline.