Govt incentives required to make electric vehicles affordable in India: Maruti Suzuki

India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki plans to launch its first electric vehicle in the market by 2020 and the company will also set up charging stations. Disclosing this here on Thursday, Maruti chairman RC Bhargava said the conventional internal combustion (IC) engine vehicles will also continue to grow.

The company has done an assessment, assuming an annual growth rate of 8 per cent between now and 2030, that 71 million cars will be sold, of which 14.4 million will be electric and 56.6 million will be internal combustion vehicles, he said. So, conventional cars will continue to be four times that of electrics, he added.

The government has set eyes on 100 per cent EVs for public mobility and 40 per cent electric for personal mobility by 2030. Bhargava also said government incentives will be needed to make electric vehicles (EVs) affordable as the country moves towards the ecofriendly solution for mobility. He pointed out that affordability is a major challenge that EVs will face and for them to be successful, focus has to be on manufacturing of batteries and other components within the country to bring down cost.

"My gut feeling is that yes, some kind of government intervention would be required but I don't know to what extent,'' he told reporters when asked if government incentives would be needed to support electric vehicles transition in India. As electric vehicles are a new development for the Indian auto industry it would be difficult to say in detail how much government support would be needed, he added. The company will conduct a study to understand more about consumer insights on electric vehicles.