With the Tamil Nadu government working on an electric vehicle (EV) policy, industry representatives and experts, felt that the State could lead in creating an ecosystem for EVs and wider adoption of such vehicles.

The State’s inherent strengths in manufacturing, skilled manpower and capabilities in system software will come in handy to lead in the EV sector.

“The future of automobiles is in ASCE — autonomous, shared, connected and electric. A combination of all could come in future and there will be huge opportunities awaiting Tamil Nadu,” V S Parthasarathy, Group CFO and Group CIO, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, said during an interaction at the Global Investors Summit (GIM).

Ford India President and Managing Director Michael Brielmaier said the major source of strength in Tamil Nadu is its people. “The universities are a good talent pool. The State can surpass others in meeting the challenges in the electric-vehicle segment with big investments waiting ahead,” he said.

Affordable level

Siddharth Sridharan of US-based Volta Charging, which provides free electricity for electric vehicles, said falling battery prices would help make EVs affordable.

“Cost of battery has dropped from $1000 per kWh in 2010 to about $190 kWh in 2018. It will continue to drop more. Soon, the cost of EV will be equal to that of an ICE engine car,” he said.

The State will come out with its own policy for supporting electric-vehicle industry once the Central government announces its much-awaited EV policy, said M S Shanmugam, earlier Additional Secretary in Industries Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, and now Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board.

He reflected the views of State Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami who said Tamil Nadu would introduce environment-friendly electric buses in Metro cities and would also launch an EV policy for promoting new-gen electric vehicles with appropriate incentives.

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