Focus on action plan rather than new policies: Mahindra Electric

The auto industry must now focus on action rather than seek a new electric vehicles (EV) policy as the direction provided by Niti Aayog is more than sufficient, a top Mahindra & Mahindra executive said today.

Speaking to PTI on the sidelines of an CII event here, Mahindra Electric CEO Mahesh Babu said it is more important to start working in cohesive manner in the direction of sustainable mobility in order to be globally competitive rather than seek new policies.

"I think there is too much emphasis on more policies. We don't need more policies. If we have action plan for the policy, which has been released by the Niti Aayog, it is more than sufficient to achieve what we want to achieve by 2030," Babu said.

The direction set by Niti Aayog in May 2017 is good enough and if all the stakeholders start working as per the vision document released last year then India is in right direction, he added.

Babu also highlighted several initiatives taken by the government recently like green licence plates bearing numbers in white fonts for private e-vehicles as one of the positives for the electric vehicle segment.

"Electricity selling or the green number plates looks to be a clear direction on sustainable mobility. I don't think anything more is required ...if do it as a team -- industry, government, stakeholders, customers, policy makers -- I think we are in the right direction. There is no hurry but there is an urgent need to work on what we have to do to be globally competitive," he added.

The government had last year said it plans to have 100 per cent electric vehicles in public transport and 40 per cent in personal mobility by 2030.

However, earlier this year it changed its stance and decided against formulating an electric vehicle (EV) policy saying technology should not be trapped by rules and regulations.

When asked about Mahindra's plans regarding the EV segment, Babu said that the company's vision is to bring sustainable mobility to the masses and public transport.

"We have launched three-wheelers to buses in electric segment and we believe that we have to play role not only in products but ecosystem development as well. So we have tied up with fleet operators like Ola, Uber, Zoomcar," he added.

On new products, he said that the company has already introduced five products in the segment and would bring many more in the future.