BREAKERS ON THE EV ROAD

Various sops and incentives notwithstanding, the adoption of EVs in the country has remained short of the mark. Now, subsidy cuts and sluggish growth in EV infrastructure threaten to further impede the progess

- Ashish Sinha & Utkarsh Agarwal

THERE IS GOOD NEWS AND bad news on the electric vehicles (EV) front in India. First, the good news. More than a million EVs were sold in the country in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023. To be precise, a total of 1,152,021 EVs were sold during the fiscal, as per data shared by the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV), an Indian electric vehicle industry lobby. The figure did not include low-speed electric two-and three-wheelers (E2W & E3W), though. In fact, in the E2W segment alone, 7,26,976 units were sold across manufacturers T during the fiscal.

While the million-plus figure is certainly a landmark that calls for cheer, things have slid back in terms of EV adoption and its growth projections. The adoption of EVS actually fell on a month-on-month basis over the annual minimum targets set by NITI Aayog and other research organisations. As per NITI Aayog's target for FAME-II (from April 20 to March 23), the E2W adoption should have reached 1.93 million units. The actual E2W adoption has been 1.02 million. And that is a cause for worry for the industry for now. We will circle back to the reasons, challenges, and the way forward in just a bit.

First, let's soak in the good news. According to Tanvi Shah, Director, CareEdge Advisory & Research, the E2W segment has witnessed significant growth over the years and today accounts for around 62 percent of overall EV sales in FY23. E2W sales grew 188 percent in FY23 compared to the previous year, whereas for the FY19 to FY23 period, the category clocked a CAGR of 92 percent.