[V0rtex]

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/pric...adkari-7963004

New Delhi:
Prices of electric vehicles (EVs) will be equal to those of petrol vehicles in the country within six months, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Wednesday.

Addressing the 32nd Convergence India and 10th Smart Cities India Expo, Nitin Gadkari further said the construction work of the 212-km Delhi-Dehradun access-controlled expressway will be complete in the next three months.

"Within six months, the cost of electric vehicles will be equivalent to the cost of petrol vehicles," he said.

The minister said the government's policy is import substitute, cost-effectiveness, pollution-free and indigenous production.

To make India the third-largest economy, the country needs to improve its infrastructure sector, the Union minister said.

"By making good roads, we can reduce our logistics cost," he added.

Nitin Gadkari asserted that the future of the country's economy is very good and the government is committed towards smart cities and smart transport.

"We are working on mass rapid transport on electricity," he said.

Nitin Gadkari emphasised on the need to encourage new technology and innovation to reduce cost of road construction.

[DicKy]

Another day, another Gadkari gyaan.

Can't believe that few years ago, he was my favourite minister, but now I really wish he is booted out of power (highly unlikely)

[ABHI_1512]

Just make a search on Google with the line ‘promises by Nitin Gadkari’ and the page is filled with empty promises. This one is another mis-statement which has no explanation and rationale unless the cost of petrol vehicles are hiked so much so as to match the prices with EV’s !!

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by DicKy

Another day, another Gadkari gyaan.

--

And he is moving around in Toyota Mirai, emphasizing to spread awareness of FCEV technology



Link:

[SmartCat]

I think petrol and EV prices are already comparable right now.

When comparing EV prices with its petrol counterpart, we need to match the feature list first and then look at its on road price (not ex-showroom). I think people look at petrol ex-showroom "starts at" price and compare it with EV ex-showroom "starts at" price.

The right way is -

- Go to a website like carwale/cardekho etc that shows the on-road price
- Select Tata Nexon, city as Mumbai
- Select 'petrol' + 'automatic'. After all, EVs have "automatic transmission". It would be unfair to compare manual petrol with automatic EV. This is the onroad price of petrol+automatic Nexon variants in Mumbai:



But here again, Nexon EV does not have 'smart' or 'pure' variants. So we have to disregard those prices and only compare petrol + automatic models whose features match that of EV model. It is quite possible that petrol/EV variant might have different "names" - so one has to check the actual features list.

After matching the features list, then compare the on-road price. The road tax advantage (Rs. 2.3 Lakhs in this case) ensures that the prices are far closer than most people imagine.

[RM Motorsports]

On March 22 he assured in the Parliament that the Indian road infrastructure will be equivalent to that of the United States before December 2024.

I'll feel BLESSED if this even happens in next ten years.

[rajeevsulu]

The good man is losing credibility with each passing day. Another ridiculous announcement added to a very long list of claims which can never seen the light of day.

Cheers

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

I think petrol and EV prices are already comparable right now.

Agree, not long now even if not in 6 months. As soon as batteries (which comprises 35-45% of total production cost) gets cheaper and/or localised and/or import duties get strategically reduced, EVs will become cheaper on road than ICE siblings.

Already, the TCO for identical variants if driven extensively is probably lower for EVs even factoring in uncertainty about resale.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

As soon as batteries gets cheaper, EVs will become cheaper on road than ICE siblings.

But on the flipside, if feature matched on-road prices of EVs become cheaper than petrol cars, they might start taking away marketshare from petrol cars at a rapid pace. The states will see dwindling tax revenues. And very likely, they will slowly introduce & later increase taxes on EVs thereby levelling the playing field!.

Examples:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/elect...ve-rs-30l.html (Maharashtra Budget 25-26: 6% tax on EVs above Rs. 30l)
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/elect...s-25-lakh.html (Karnataka government imposes 10% lifetime tax on EVs above Rs 25 lakh)

[yedukrishnan199]

I would say he is partially correct, even now, if we compare a few electric cars which do have EV counterparts like the Curvv EV, Nexon EV, and Creta EV, the prices of the top-end ICE models are almost the same as those on the top-end EV model, here is an example in Kerala:

Note that if we compare the Accomplished Plus Variants only, the EV is even cheaper


Here too, moreover, the EV versions sometimes are even more feature-loaded than their ICE counterparts:



A point to note however is that the Kerala government has noticed this and has increased the Road taxes on EVs from April 2025 from the current 5% to up to 10%, so sadly these benefits won't last much longer

[anjan_c2007]

I do not think this will happen anytime in the near future. Plus the baggage viz charging and range and other obvious reasons will take a long, long time if ever, to veer away the average car buyer from ICE to EV even if the capital investment is almost the same. Does Mr Gadkari know about the resale values that EV's are fetching?

The only categories of EV's gaining in sales are the sub 25 kmph two wheelers (officially declared speed by OE that doesn't require registration and licence) and the government financed electric buses. Private bus operators are too cautious and are keeping a safe distance from switching over.

We need to take many of Mr Gadkari's utterances with a few pinches of salt. Pliny the Elder's coined the term "pinch of salt", that evolved from "a grain of salt" to "a pinch of salt" and came to mean viewing something with skepticism or not taking it literally. Pliny alias Gaius Plinius Secundus was a 1st century A.D. Roman author and philosopher.

Mr Gadkari has been repeatedly stating that India is going to have a better road infrastructure than the United States, and that the Central government was determined to achieve this. No doubt highway work has progressed at jet speed, but it is yet to come even 25% to match up with the U.S. even after he has been at the helm since 10 years 6 months. With our limited resources it's best to avoid such sweeping statements about bettering or even matching our infrastructure with that of the U.S.

[shortbread]

Originally Posted by volkman10

And he is moving around in Toyota Mirai, emphasizing to spread awareness of FCEV technology

Toyota gifted the poor man a fossil, the hydrogen car idea was dead on arrival, toyota remains the only manufacturer that hasn't accepted this fact.

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Agree, not long now even if not in 6 months. As soon as batteries (which comprises 35-45% of total production cost) gets cheaper and/or localised and/or import duties get strategically reduced, EVs will become cheaper on road than ICE siblings.

Originally Posted by yedukrishnan199

I would say he is partially correct, even now, if we compare a few electric cars which do have EV counterparts like the Curvv EV, Nexon EV, and Creta EV, the prices of the top-end ICE models are almost the same as those on the top-end EV model, here is an example in Kerala

More significant than the moment when EV prices reach parity with ICE vehicles is the impending reality that EVs will soon become cheaper to produce and sell than their gasoline counterparts, marking a pivotal shift in the automotive landscape.

As pollution regulations tighten, manufacturers will increasingly rely on more costly technologies like direct injection, bigger cooled turbos, hybrid systems etc... to meet compliance, while EVs benefit from economies of scale and localized production, resulting in reduced costs for batteries and electric powertrains. Plus we're only talking about acquisition costa here, fuel prices, imported crude, energy security etc... are an altogether different argument.

In just a year or two, it's conceivable that a gasoline-powered Mahindra/Tata SUV could surpass its more powerful and refined EV counterpart in price. A 300+ hp electric Harrier, for example, will far outshine its diesel version. This transition will likely begin with electric two-wheelers, which will first experience the upward trend of the adoption curve, followed closely by cars. However, a key challenge for EV adoption in India remains the situation for apartment residents without dedicated home charging solutions; for those with access to home chargers, daily EV use will pose no significant issues

[shimoo]

Mr Gadbadkari is at it again. As if on cue, every few months, he does some gadbad. Ethanol blending, hydrogen fuel cells, replacing sirens with classical music (my favorite) and now this.

[landcruiser123]

Knowing the track record of recent announcements, I won't be surprised if the particular minister is referring to additional taxes on ICE cars to match prices of equivalent EV models.

[rangarx]

So, Mr.Gadkari says he'd make Pertol cars to cost equivalent to EVs. Who knows? After making the Indian roads equal to US and making the toll gates strictly 60 KMs apart, now the Petrol car prices are going to cost more!

Fun aside, the technological advancement would be the equalizer, not the Government in any way.