Electric vehicle manufacturers are pinning hopes on the early implementation of the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan for the revival of the sector, industry body SMEV today said.
Under the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020, which was announced by the government in 2011 but is still to be rolled out, the electric vehicle manufacturers are to get incentives worth Rs 14,000 crore over the next six years.
"NEMMP 2020 has reached the final leg of approvals. We expect it to be implemented in the next 3-5 months. It will help the industry to recover," Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) Director Sohinder Gill said.
As out of the 65 manufacturers a couple of years ago there are only 10 full fledged electric vehicle manufacturers left in the country. If it (NEMMP) further gets delayed, another half will go, he added.
If implemented, the plan would lead to a flurry of electric vehicle launches in the next 2-3 years in the country, leading to exponential growth of green cars on the Indian roads, he added.
"The target of the plan is to have 6-7 million electric vehicles on the Indian roads by 2020. It will help save 2.2-2.5 million tonnes of fuel," Gill said.
Elaborating further, he added that lack of incentives from the government has led to a drastic fall in sale of electric vehicles over the past few years in the country.
"Since the government took away MNRE subsidy in March 2012, the electric vehicle sales have gone down drastically. We sold one lakh vehicles in 2011-12, 42,000 units in 2012-13 and the sales have now come down to 21,000 units in 2013-14," Gill said.
The decline in sales over the years has also led to closure of various manufacturers and loss of several jobs in the sector, he added.
"Ever since the withdrawal of MNRE subsidy..Has resulted in loss of thousands of jobs that were created and has put capital of more than Rs 1,000 crore at risk," Gill said.
When asked about the electric-rickshaws, Gill said the government needs to put in place effective regulations as quickly as possible as the delay would lead to severe problems including safety issues in big cities in the next few years.
"We can have e-rickshaws that are better designed and safe. We need to quickly address the issue before it gets too late to act," he added.
SMEV, which has over 20 members, including Hero Electric and Mahindra Reva, was formed in 2008.
