The business model for combustion vehicles will not work beyond 2025 as young people will not buy such vehicles, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant told CNBC-TV18 on Saturday. According to him, the period beyond 2025 belongs to only electric two and three-wheelers.
At a time when India has set the target to become
net-zero by 2070, Kant said that there is no future for companies that do not go green.
However, both heavy industries minister Mahendra Nath Pandey and secretary Arun Goel have said there is no plan to mandate EVs in any segment or set thresholds. Both have said that the market will decide the extent of EV adoption.
He termed renewables, battery storage, clean mobility, electrolysers, and green hydrogen as sunrise sectors, which will grow at a fast pace.
Kant explained that there is no future for combustion vehicles due to rapid disruptions globally. The firms that are attracting valuations are only green companies, he said citing Tesla’s example, the Elon Musk-led firm that has a valuation of $2 trillion, which is equal to that of 11 automobile companies.
“The world will not value or invest in companies making combustion engines,” the
Niti Aayog CEO said.
His remarks come at a time when the government has been encouraging the adoption of
electric vehicles and the use of alternative fuels like ethanol, bio-LNG, and green hydrogen.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had earlier highlighted that the sale of EVs in India has increased as people are giving a good response.
He added that there are nearly 250 startups that are working on e-vehicles and this will reduce the cost of EVs. Noting that green hydrogen is the future, he said. "I am going to buy a car next month, which will run on hydrogen."(Edited by : Kanishka Sarkar)
First Published: Dec 4, 2021 2:01 PM IST
