E-mobility: Why the Indian auto sector is reluctant to take the great leap

Frequent shifts in the goalpost are sending out confusing signals to an industry used to long investment cycles

India’s 65-year-old auto industry is in a state of flux. As if the short-term challenge of a slowing demand wasn’t enough, the sector also faces an existential dilemma. The government’s electric mobility mission, which proposes to replace the internal-combustion engine (ICE)-powered three-wheelers and two-wheelers (up to 150cc) by 2023 and 2025, respectively, has sent shock waves across the industry.

Environmentalists hail the move but point out that the approach has to be holistic and must also focus on taking old polluting vehicles off the road. “Instead of seeing it (the move to replace ICE vehicles with EVs) as a ban,