CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government will assist electric mobility players to invest and set up shop in the state as the electric vehicle push will make it possible for the state to hit its $1 trillion economy target by 2030.
According to Hans Raj Verma, IAS, CMD, Tamil Nadu Industrial Investment Corporation, Chennai is already the EV capital of India and the “government welcomes EV companies to set up shop and we are willing to assist them in every possible way.”
He was speaking at the EV Summit 2022 organised by the Tamil Nadu Technology Development & Promotion Centre of Confederation of Indian Industry on Friday.
TN has two auto and electronic industrial clusters complimenting and supporting each other — the Sriperumbudur cluster has majors such as Hyundai and Foxconn while the emerging Hosur-Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri cluster has players like Ola, Ather and others.
Rajesh Kumar Pathak, IP & TAFS, secretary, Technology Development Board, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India dittoed that resolve. “The Technology Development Board is looking to fund and support disruptive technology including the EV Space. We welcome startups, including startups in the EV domain, to share their proposals as the Rs 1,000 crore private-public partnership model for funding startups which would be launched shortly,” he added.
Since the launch of the 2019 EV policy (due for revision now), Tamil Nadu has attracted Rs 20,000 crore in investments in the EV sector that created 50,000 jobs. The state government has undertaken “investment promotion and facilitation activities to attract investors across the EV manufacturing value chain to establish units in the state especially battery manufacturers,” said Ambrin Moinuddin, VP-economic analysis and policy, Guidance Tamil Nadu, adding that the state government has initiated efforts to redesign the curriculum in engineering as well as polytechnic colleges to suit the EV manufacturers in the state.
Private sector voices added that India’s EV positioning is a big opportunity. Mahesh Babu, director & CEO, Switch Mobility said that “EV adoption can be seen across different vehicle segments and India is all set to position itself as one of the leading marketplaces for EVs”. But for the EV eco system to build up “companies should talk to each other, resulting in an exchange of ideas. A consortium should be formed to help the domain grow at a faster pace,” said Dr V Sumantran, a non-executive director on the board of Switch Mobility.
The Indian automobile industry is the fifth largest in the world and is expected to become the third largest by 2030. As per India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA), the Indian EV industry is expected to expand at a CAGR of 36% while NITI Aayog aims at achieving EV sales penetration of 70% for all commercial cars, 30% for private cars, 40% for buses and 80% for two and three-wheelers by 2030.