India approves $7 billion plan for 10,000 electric buses in 169 cities in next 10 years

The Centre has approved around a ₹580 billion ($7 billion) scheme to deploy 10,000 electric buses in 169 cities by 2033 along with charging and associated infrastructure facilities, Reuters reported. The government will fund ₹ 200 billion of the cost of the scheme, based on a public-private partnership model. The newswire added that it was not immediately clear whether the remaining funds would come from state governments or private companies.

Chasing a target of 50,000 electric buses nationwide, at an estimated cost of $12 billion, the centre has been aggregating demand from state governments and issuing contracts or tenders inviting companies to bid.

Following the announcement shares of Electric bus makers Olectra Greentech and JBM Auto rose up and closed up 8.8% and 10.1% respectively. Tata Motors was up 1.9%, while Ashok Leyland, which has a unit that makes electric buses, pared a 2.5% rise to settle 0.9% higher.

A phased manufacturing plan likely in pipeline for EVs

The Times of India reported that the government may implement a programme similar to a phased manufacturing plan (PMP) that would meet the needs of the whole industry while also creating a national ecosystem. Incentives in this market will help develop capacity in a new market without affecting domestic players like Tata Motors and Mahindra, who are investing heavily in the EV space even as Japanese companies are putting hybrids on Indian roads. This market will satisfy domestic demand as well as serve as a base for exports.

According to the report, discussions on a PMP that would establish a graded duty structure to support domestic manufacture are still in their early stages. However, insiders claimed that this may assist accelerate the switch to EVs while also gaining access to a developing market. A PMP programme would serve the demands of the industry and will be company agnostic. Additionally, it will support businesses as they gradually increase their level of localization, and incentives will be offered to promote investment.

Foxconn eyes India to make its third EV hub

One of the biggest contract electronics manufacturers in the world, Foxconn Technology Group, is looking into options to make India its third worldwide base for EV contract production. The Taiwanese corporation plans to provide five to seven lakh EVs by 2025, or 5% of all electric car sales globally. In India, Foxconn is already the biggest contract manufacturer of iPhones for India and other markets. Since 2015, the Indian division of Foxconn, Bharat FIH, has started producing electrical parts for EV two-wheeler manufacturers like Ather Energy and Ola Electric. A decision regarding the construction of an EV plant by the Taiwanese company with the governments of Telangana and Tamil Nadu is anticipated soon.

18,000 public EV charging stations needed in top nine cities: Govt

In response to a question in the Lok Sabha, the minister of heavy industries Mahendra Nath Pandey said that the top nine cities in India will need 18,000 public electric vehicle (EV) charging stations by 2030. The nine cities are Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata have a 4 million plus population and require 18,000 public EV charging stations by 2030. As of July, Maharashtra had the highest number of EV charging stations followed by Delhi and then Karnataka. As per the ministry of power, currently there are no targets fixed for installation of public EV chargers in the country. Pandey also said that 22,000 charging stations were being deployed by the petroleum ministry, which were set to be installed by December 2024. Of these 7,432 fell under the heavy industries ministry’s FAME-II subsidy scheme, where the central government was giving oil companies a subsidy of ₹800 crore to set up these charging stations.

ACC market demand to increase up to 220 GWh by 2030: Report

A new report by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) said that the advanced chemistry cell (ACC) battery market demand in India is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 50% from 20 GWh in 2022 to around 220 GWh by 2030.  The report  ‘Raw materials for Battery & Component Manufacturing’ said India is anticipated to localise a sizeable chunk of the entire value chain, from material processing to pack assembly and integration, in order to support a strong local supply chain and the flourishing domestic battery manufacturing industry. As some raw minerals, including cobalt, nickel, and copper, have a minuscule reserve, production, and processing capacity in the nation, the research advised the establishment of domestic mining. The research recommended reducing the customs tariff on essential minerals used in battery production and encouraging the construction of mineral processing facilities to extract necessary materials.

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