Can Middle East war-driven oil pressure boost India’s electric vehicle journey?

A few days ago, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
instructed the induction of electric vehicles (EVs) into his convoy, to the
extent possible without purchasing new cars, once again spotlighting a vehicle
segment serving at least two key constituencies.
The immediate context of Modi's
instruction is his call for austerity measures, including reducing gold
purchases, avoiding unnecessary foreign travel for a year, cutting private car
use and shifting to public transport to ease pressure on fossil fuels amid the
Middle East war.
The move addresses two concerns at
once, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and cutting petrol consumption, a large
portion of which India imports and which has been affected by the conflict.
India's EV transition is already underway as part of its shift toward green
mobility.
Registered EVs in India rose to
19.68 lakh in 2024-25 from 1.43 lakh in 2020-21, according to the Ministry of
Heavy Industries.
Over the past five years, the
government has launched at least six schemes to promote EV manufacturing and
adoption.
However, India's transition to
electric mobility had a slow start, according to an August report by NITI
Aayog, the country's official policy think tank.
India's EV penetration was about one-fifth of the global level in 2020 but rose
to more than two-fifths in 2024.
The report said the trend remains
upward, though relatively slow.
It estimates India's EV market at
$200 billion and says the country aims to achieve a 30% EV share in total
vehicle sales by 2030.
EV sales in India increased from
50,000 in 2016 to 2.08 million in 2024, while global EV sales rose from 918,000
to 18.78 million during the same period, the report said, adding that stronger
measures are needed to accelerate the transition.
One of the biggest obstacles to EV
market expansion remains inadequate charging infrastructure.
Setting up EV charging stations,
considered essential for large-scale EV adoption, is an unlicensed activity in
which private entrepreneurs can also participate.
Under a government scheme, Rs2,000
crore has been allocated for public charging stations.
So far, proposals worth ₹503.86
crore have been approved for installing 4,874 EV chargers across various
states.
The Indian government has also
approved a total outlay of Rs10,900 crore to promote electric mobility and
support EV ecosystem development across multiple segments, including demand
incentives and infrastructure support.
The scheme proposes support for
around 24.79 lakh electric two-wheelers and nearly 3.16 lakh electric
three-wheelers, including e-rickshaws and e-carts.
It also includes Rs4,391 crore for
deploying more than 14,028 electric buses, alongside dedicated support for
e-ambulances and e-trucks to encourage adoption in commercial and public
service sectors.
Out of the total allocation,
Rs3,679 crore has been earmarked for demand incentives for electric
two-wheelers, three-wheelers, e-ambulances, e-trucks and other emerging EV
categories.
















