With the adoption of electric vehicles picking up in the country, India could become the largest EV market in the world by 2030, said the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, today.

“India is now being recognised across the world with the pace at which we are doing pioneering work in technologies like advanced energy storage and e-mobility and green hydrogen. By 2030, India could become the world’s largest electric vehicle market," Goyal said at the inauguration of Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2024.

Public policy think tank Niti Aayog has set a target of 30 percent of total sales to be EVs in India by 2030, with the market expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 49 percent between 2022 and 2030.

India is currently the third-largest automobile market in the world. EV sales are now at around 3-5 percent of the total and India is dubbed as the fastest-growing electric vehicle market. In 2023, sales of electric vehicles grew around 49 percent year-on-year to 1.53 lakh units, with two-wheelers leading the race. Around 7.6 lakh electric vehicles are expected to have been registered in the country till now.

Early-stage electric vehicle adoption is being aided by the government’s demand subsidy through the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicle (FAME) scheme. There is also a production-linked incentive scheme for advanced chemistry cell manufacturing, which is expected to reduce the cost of batteries.

In the interim budget for 2024-2025 (FY25) that was presented on February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: “Our Government will expand and strengthen the e-vehicle ecosystem by supporting manufacturing and charging infrastructure. Greater adoption of e-buses for public transport networks will be encouraged through payment security mechanism.”