Stop-start policy may paralyse Modi govt's electric vehicle push

The absence of a firm framework for battery-operated vehicles reflects the uncertainty within government of their utility in the larger global warming debate

The Indian government’s march towards the era of electric vehicles via the bulk procurement route may be aimed at eventually encouraging the mass manufacture of passenger e-cars. But it represents a significant diversion from the route e-vehicles have followed globally.

Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), the state-run agency that is responsible for the procurement of cars for government departments, had issued the first global tender for 10,000 e-cars in August 2017, for which Tata Motors emerged the lowest bidder at Rs 1.12 million per car.

Though this is far cheaper than, say, Germany where an e-car would cost between Euro