Indian electric vehicle market to grow in next 2 years, 3 crore EVs to be on road: Nitin Gadkari

Nitin Gadkari, the Union Transport Minister, predicted that the number of electric vehicles in India would reach 3 crores in the next two years. 

Gadkari said India has the largest pool of young talent and that there is a need to promote these unique brains at the launch of startup products incubated at Science and Technology Park here.

"In the electric scooter segment, there are about 250 startups that are working right now, and they have really made good scooters, and all are heavily booked," said Gadkari.

"There are currently 12 lakh electric vehicles in the country. By December end, the number will go up to 40 lakh, and in next two years, it will reach 3 crores," he added.

He said he was happy the monopoly of big brands in the EV segment was being challenged by smaller ones due to the latter bringing in equally good products in the market.

However, this growth can be hindered considering the recent EV fire incidents. 

The preliminary findings from the government-constituted probe committee on electric vehicle (EV) fires have found issues with battery cells/design in nearly all of the electric two-wheeler (2W) fire incidents in the country, which could put EV two-wheeler manufacturers in a tough spot.

The committee was constituted last month in the wake of EV fires and battery blasts in e-scooters belonging to Okinawa Autotech, Boom Motor, Pure EV, Jitendra EV, and Ola Electric.