Saar: This move will not only help homegrown automakers like Tata Motors and Mahindra to curb the costs for their respective electric vehicles but also encourage manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki and Toyota, with both co-developing an EV battery plant in Gujarat

Okay, the ‘saar’ wasn’t the shortest or the crispiest in the world but it does have a hint of promising future for EVs (electric vehicles) in India. The government, which has set itself a hugely ambitious goal of ‘all new vehicles sold in the country are electric by 2030’, has given a ray of hope to reduce the cost of EV batteries manufactured in India. In a recent media report, the policymakers said that the government will give incentives to battery makers to set up more manufacturing plants in India.

What kind of incentives and who all were addressed with this information is unclear. However, this move will not only help homegrown automakers like Mahindra and Tata Motors to tackle the high-cost EV manufacturing, but also inject foreign manufacturers like Suzuki and Toyota who are jointly developing an EV battery plant in Gujarat. Presently, there are two EVs which are available for personal use – Mahindra e2o Plus and the Mahindra eVerito. Apart from those, Tata Motors is also in the final stages of launching the electric derivatives of its Tigor sedan and the Tiago hatchback for the masses.

Currently, EV battery tech is imported into India and hence attracts high taxes. However, if the battery is manufactured locally, the selling price of EVs will surely tumble. The government said that it has been in talks with resource-rich countries to ensure supplies of raw materials such as lithium, which act as the core components to produce batteries.