Will work hand in hand to adopt e-mobility: Union Minister Ananth Geete

BENGALURU: Union Minister of State for Heavy Industry & Public Sector Enterprises Ananth Geete has assured the auto industry that promoting electric vehicles will not be at the cost of the huge investments made by them in conventional technology. Addressing the automotive industry members at the 3rd Catalyst Conference on growth in E-Vehicle industry, Geete sought to assure the auto industry that his ministry will take them along to adopt electric mobility. 

He said, “I want to clarify here once again ... that my ministry has never set a deadline to achieve 100% electrification of mobility by 2030. No developed country has achieved even 30%. We need not hurry, but we have to work towards achieving maximum electric mobility. At the same time we do not want to substitute import of crude oil with import of batteries as today most of lithium ion batteries are imported from China. We need to make batteries in India.”

He said electric mobility had given an opportunity to new entrepreneurs and Bengaluru had embraced electric vehicles faster than other cities. But the talk of 100% electric-mobility by 2030 created unrest in the auto industry. “Auto industry has made maximum investment by any sector in India.

We need to take them along to make any vision successful and there is no need to panic. But we have to keep in mind that electric-mobility is the future and have to work towards that,” Geete said. He said the consumer should get good quality vehicles at an affordable price and not just cheap vehicles.