Low motorisation rate an opportunity for auto industry to develop on electric vehicles: NITI Aayog CEO

New Delhi [India], September 7 (ANI): NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Thursday said the prevailing low rate of motorisation can be transformed into an opportunity for the automobile industry to carve its own path for production of electric vehicles.

Addressing the 2017 Annual Convention of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) here, Kant stated that he would like to see India transform into a global hub for electric car production.

"The low rate of motorisation gives an opportunity to the auto industry to carve their niche in the electric vehicle segment. Electric vehicle will have a market share of 10.6 per cent by 2026, projected to rise up to 53 per cent in 2040," he said.

"Currently, the rate of lithium battery used for electric cars is USD 273 per kilowatt. This will come down USD 73 per kilowatt by 2030, which is another advantage for automobile manufacturers looking to venture into this segment," added Amitabh.

Earlier, envisioning electric vehicles to be the future of the automobile industry, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari emphasised that constructive planning needs to be done for the next 25 years, adding that it is necessary to instigate increasing usage of bio-fuel and CNG.

"The future is meant for electric cars and bio-fuel usage. We will have to plan out things in a way that even tractors will run on CNG. The Cabinet will soon publish a detailed notification on electric cars," he said.

Further, Gadkari stated that in order to curb pollution in the country, automobile manufacturers and members of the SIAM have to end the production and consumption of vehicles that run on diesel, adding that an alternate path has to be taken up at the earliest.

"The path is clear; diesel vehicles have to be banned. It is important for the SIAM and automobile manufacturers to change their ideology with changing times. We have to look at reducing two things in our country- imports and pollution-both of which are detrimental," said Gadkari, while addressing the SIAM Annual Convention 2017 here. (ANI)