The Hindu Business Line : `Govt must help in promoting electric vehicles'

THERE is a need to create awareness on the importance of using electric vehicles among policy-makers, people's representatives and the public, according to electric vehicle manufacturers.

A day-long meeting was organised by the ASCI's (Administrative Staff College of India) Centre for Energy, Environment, Urban Governance and Infrastructure Development (CEEUGID) here to discuss a draft paper on `Development of electric vehicles and the Indian scenario'. Based on the recommendations, the centre would prepare a final paper that would be sent to the Union Government.

The centre also discussed a variety of roadblocks coming in the way of manufacturers in scaling up the numbers that would help in addressing the growing environmental concerns and the increasing burden of petroleum costs.

Mr Tapan Basu, General Manager (Electric Vehicles), Bajaj Auto Ltd, asked the Government to take the lead in making the product acceptable by the people.

The manufacturers of electric vehicles should not be discouraged. "We don't need any subsidies," he said, adding that the manufacturers expected facilitating atmosphere to promote the concept.

Mr O.P. Agarwal, a senior official in the Union Urban Development Ministry, asked the stakeholders to conduct an accurate study to assess lifecycle costs to identify means to reduce them.

This would help make lifecycle costs more competitive. Increasing price differential between petrol or diesel vehicles and electric vehicles, reducing excise duties on batteries and offering interest subsidies were some of the measures that could propel the usage of such vehicles.

Prof. Y. Satyanarayana, Advisor of CEEUGID, felt that improvements in battery technology would boost sales of electronic vehicles.

Mr P. Bhaskar Roy, Senior General Manager (Marketing) of Reva Electric Car Company, said local governments should offer incentives for using electric vehicles as in the UK and France.

Concessions in road tax and parking fee would help cut lifecycle costs, he pointed out.

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