new delhi the next few years are going to be crucial for indias transition to electric vehicles with the centre targeting to achieve at least 30 sales to be electric by 2030 this switch to clean mobility has become the need of the hour considering the focus on climate change and building sustainable development goals in the recently released world air quality report 2021 35 out of 50 cities with the worst air quality were from india in fact none of the cities met world health organisations who air quality standards of 5 micrograms per cubic meter ugm3 it is a good thing that the government recognised the need to adopt measures for cleaner air and is pushing automakers to switch to electric vehicles evs advt in the past few years the centre has firmed up schemes to incentivise companies to build evs and batteries locally in order to boost supply and complement a slew of benefits for ev buyers however automakers are facing many challenges to make this transition they have been slow to adapt as the price of evs continue to remain high due to soaring battery costs and components cost apart from the inadequate charging infrastructure in the country according to a report by niti aayog titled banking on electric vehicles in india the government think tank estimated that the cumulative investment in transition to evs could be as large as rs 197 lakh crore between 20202030 this highlights the need for higher liquidity and lower cost of capital for ev assets and infrastructurehowever obtaining finances for evs still remains a low possibility as financial institutions and banks often cite risks associated with assets or business models the report highlights that these risks are both real uncertainty of resale value and perceived product quality as a result even if financing is available ev buyers are unable to obtain terms interest rates and tenures that are comparable to ice vehicles besides finance another major challenge is creating the appropriate infrastructure for evs like setting up charging facilities which is a major hindrance for buyers to choose evs over petrol diesel vehicles advt the most pressing need for the ev sector to grow is financing india needs to build an aatmanirbhar supply chain not dependent on the challenges of the global supply chain said rachna ahuja director of ingar electronics ahuja further stressed on the need to develop local manufacturing units in order to bring down import costs and boost local manufacturing one of the arguments in the forefront of ev technology promotion is the freedom from oil imports and reduction of our import bills this will only come true once enough local manufacturing capacity is developed and orginical equipment manufacturers oem primarily source components from india itself she addedfiscal initiatives for ev sector the ev space in india comprises great opportunities for both budgetary allocations as well as corporate investments with adoption of faster adoption and manufacturing of electric vehicles fame phase i and ii demand incentives for