In a bid to achieve this target, the Indian government is planning a policy that will include tax breaks, subsidies, etc to rope in aggregators and car manufacturers.
In the first phase, India will start with public transport. Also, under the plan, two-wheelers, three-wheelers and non-air-conditioned city buses will be sold without batteries, thus slashing prices by as much as 70%.
The batteries will be leased at a specified cost and can be swiftly swapped with recharged ones at stations, he said. "The private vehicles will be the last lap of the scheme. We expect the programme to start scaling in three years. The programme is in the final stages of drafting," an official told ET.
"It will take just two-and-half minutes to replace auto batteries and can be done in 10 minutes when city buses rest after about a 30-km trip. The model, however, will not work for AC cars and AC buses," the government official said.
A formal policy is expected in next six months as an inter-ministerial committee led by
For taxis, the government is considering fast-charging electric stations. Specifications and guidelines for each type of electric vehicle, lease plans, battery swaps and charging stations are being worked out.
The Modi-led government is also likely to involve aggregators and push them to purchase vehicles and lease them to drivers.
The tax breaks for manufacturers are expected to give the 'Make in India' programme a boost. "In the pilot phase, cells for the batteries will be imported. As the programme scales up, they can be manufactured locally," the official told ET.