Abstract:

India is at a critical juncture in its infrastructure, energy, and mobility development. The nation has seen a 10 percent annual increase in vehicles registrations over the last decade and is set to surpass Germany as the world’s fourth-largest car market by domestic sales by the end of 2017. If current mobility trends continue, the number of personal vehicles in India could increase three- to four-fold by 2030, at significant direct and indirect costs to India’s citizens, economy, and environment. Now, India has set ambitious targets of installing 175 gigawatts of renewable energy generation by 2022, and a draft government target aims to generate 57 percent of India’s electricity from non-fossil sources by 2027. These targets, coupled with India’s electric mobility vision, can create more value and be more readily achieved when pursued together, rather than separately. And as mobility costs impact low- and moderate-income citizens the most, this transformation could provide important economic and social benefits to this population segment.