The Catch In Clean Transport

Dear Readers,

On 26 May 2023, the Narendra Modi government completed nine years of office amidst a media blitz, as the Press and political pundits got about speculating on the outcome of the 2024 general elections. We, here at BW Businessworld look back at the high points of Prime Minister Modi’s nine years in office too, but with insights from industry stalwarts on what has changed in the spheres of business and the economy. We also map the milestones of PM Modi’s leadership in a graphic illustration.

This issue of the magazine also features the winners of the sixth edition of BW CFO World’s Best CFO & Finance Strategy Awards. The Best Chief Financial Officers demonstrated their acumen by successfully steering their firms through macroeconomic headwinds to ensure sustained growth and value creation. As the line between the roles of the CFO and CEO blurs, CFOs tend to play a more active role in realising the CEO’s vision of the business. As they exhibit the vision and agility to prepare their firms to tackle unforeseen economic challenges, the oft bestowed epithet of the Chief Future Officer rings true.

Our cover feature is the much talked of progress of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME), which is among the many prongs at which India fights climate change. As amendments to FAME II come into effect, we analyse the issues and challenges that stymie more widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). The monthly adoption of EVs has fallen short of the annual minimum targets established by NITI Aayog and other research organisations.

Niti Aayog’s goal for FAME-II (from April 2020 to March 2023) aimed to achieve a total adoption of 1.93 million electric two-wheelers (E2Ws). The actual adoption of E2Ws though, has only been 1.02 million. Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles II especially prioritises popularising E2Ws. Suspension of subsidies for non-compliance with the Phased Manufacturing Programme guidelines impacted E2W sales during the 2022-23 financial year. The recent amendments made to the FAME-II scheme, especially the reduction in subsidies, is expected to increase prices of E2Ws from 1 June.

Industry experts point out, moreover, that the infrastructure for EV charging has not met targets. As of January 2023, India had 5,254 public EV charging stations for 2.065 million EVs, which works out to an average of 393 EVs per charging station. This ratio highlights the need for more and speedy investment in charging infrastructure.

Of course, we also bring to you, all our regular features and columns. 

Happy reading!