Electric Vehicles Must be Promoted By Govt: Industry Body

Indian Auto LPG Coalition, the industry body of auto LPG stakeholders has urged the government to promote a number of clean alternative fuels for automobiles, rather than just focusing on electric mobility.

Citing the recent power grid failure in the American state of Texas, the industry body in a statement said that the incident has reignited concerns over the perils of turning to an all-electric future.

"For India, which is planning an almost complete switch to Electric Vehicles, the Texan crisis serves as a reminder of the need to promote a basket of clean alternative fuels, rather than focus single-mindedly on electric mobility," it said.

Suyash Gupta, Director General, Indian Auto LPG Coalition said, "Climate change is already upon us as is evident by extreme weather events being witnessed across the world, be it the freeze in Texas, the deadly glacier-break in Uttarakhand or the changing winter pattern in Munnar."

The threat of power failures and grid disruptions is real across the world and this raises questions over the viability of a strategy that shifts all transport solutions to electricity, it said.

Noting that such extreme weather events may become a norm, he said, "India must take this into account while planning its long-term energy policies. In such a scenario, investing in a basket of clean alternative fuels to include low hanging and immediately viable fuels such as Auto LPG is a more viable long-term strategy, rather than banking totally on electric vehicle technology."

Gupta was of the view that the government must reconsider its EV-only strategy and opt for promoting a wide variety of clean alternative fuels. Auto LPG is one such immediately available solution that can replace petrol and diesel right away and reap immense benefits for the environment, he said.