Budget 2020 Expectations: What Society of Manufacturers Of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) wants from Modi government

#BUDGET2020ZEE: There are just 2 days left for the Budget 2020 presentation. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be presenting the first full Budget of Modi 2.0 government on 1st February. The preparations for the Budget 2020 presentation (#BUDGET2020ZEE) are in full swing. Various sectors are expecting many important decisions from the presentation by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Ahead of the big day, Sohinder Gill, Director General, Society of Manufacturers Of Electric Vehicles (SMEV), spoke on what he expects in FM Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget 2020 presentation:-

Sohinder Gill says, "For a nascent and disruptive industry like EV that is heavily dependent on the government policies, there needs to be one voice from the policymakers. The EV policy needs to be clear, supportive and long term."

Gill adds, "We strongly believe that in the short to medium run, both the EV and IC sectors can grow and complement each other and policy statements should not give jitters to either of them. We hope there are announcements in the budget that give confidence to the EV industry and bring cheers to its users. Well thought through ‘Make in India’ policy backed up by logical import tariffs, accelerated infrastructure support, securing rare earth materials, the lithium cobalt minerals and priming up the science and research are some areas that need increased focus and support from the government. The industry and the government needs to draw and implement firm plans for re-skilling the workforce."

"Moreover, the Science & Technology institutes under the umbrella of the government have to be pushed to do some deep research into the alternative energy to fuel spectrum needs of the automotive sector. There is a strong possibility of India playing a significant role in the global EV market with its “value for money” two, three and four-wheelers, provided we quickly reach a good scale in the domestic market. We should make concerted efforts to remove the kinks that have inadvertently cropped up in Fame 2. The policy should be completely redrafted, if needed, so that substantial investments both from within and outside India can flow into the EV sector to push the exponential growth that everyone has been expecting for some years," concludes Gill.