From 2030, India will only sell electric cars. SoftBank and Foxconn will enter India's renewable energy market. While President Trump made a bold statement and announced that the United States would withdraw from the "Paris Climate Agreement", the Indian Energy Department announced that in order to combat the increasingly serious air pollution, it is expected that India will only sell electric cars after 2030. CNNMoney reported that as one of the developing countries, India's economy is growing at an alarming rate, but with the continuous development of industry and transportation, serious air pollution has also followed. According to research estimates, air pollution causes about 1.2 million deaths in India each year. Some doctors even described it this way, "Breathing in the capital New Delhi is like smoking 10 cigarettes a day." Not only is the air polluted, but the booming economy has also made India the world's third largest oil importer, spending nearly US$150 billion (about NT$4.5 trillion) on oil each year. The development of electric vehicles will significantly reduce oil demand, so the Indian government announced that after 2030, every car sold in India must rely on electricity rather than oil. To achieve its goal, India has begun to implement the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan, hoping that by 2020, annual sales of electric and hybrid vehicles will reach 6-7 million. Energy Minister Piyush Goyal said that in the early stages of the electric vehicle market, the government will assist growth through financial subsidies, but after that, automakers will have to rely on market demand to drive production capacity increases. This is of course very good news for electric car giant Tesla. Although Tesla has not yet entered the Indian market, Elon Musk also posted a tweet after the news came out, praising the Indian government's support for environmentally friendly energy industries such as solar energy and electric vehicles. After Musk's post, the CEO of Mahindra, India's largest electric car maker, also tweeted that he welcomes Tesla, a strong competitor, to join as soon as possible. "It's time for you, Musk. You don't want to hand over the entire market to Mahindra, do you? More people means more fun and it will be more environmentally friendly." In order to improve air pollution, the Indian government has been trying relevant measures. In January 2016, the New Delhi government announced that men must "work one day and rest one day" when driving. The number of days they are allowed to drive is determined by the odd or even number at the end of the license plate. Single women are allowed to drive every day. This regulation has been very successful in reducing air pollution, but once the market shifts to pure electric vehicles, it will have a more positive impact on the environment. According to a report by the World Economic Forum, after adopting this plan, India will be able to reduce carbon emissions by 37% by 2030. SB Energy, a joint venture between Japan's SoftBank, Foxconn and India's Bharti Airtel, will invest $20 billion in India to capture the Indian renewable energy market, including solar energy and electric vehicle charging. After the United States announced its withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, India still stated that it would continue to strive to achieve its emission reduction targets in accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement and actively develop renewable energy. Therefore, Japan's SoftBank, Foxconn, and India's largest telecommunications company Bharti Airtel recently jointly established SB Energy, planning to invest US$20 billion in India to enter India's renewable energy market. SB Energy has recently secured two major projects at Bhadla Solar Park, India's largest solar park. A senior executive at Japan's SoftBank India market also revealed yesterday that SoftBank is in talks with India to use renewable energy such as solar energy to charge electric vehicles produced in India. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government recently announced that India will replace all cars with electric vehicles within the next 15 years. Therefore, SB Energy, a joint venture between SoftBank, Foxconn and India's Bharti Airtel, will be committed to developing renewable energy such as solar power and wind power, and become the power supplier for India's electric vehicle project. According to estimates, India may need 150 megawatts (GW) to fully electrify its fleet, and the country also plans to produce 100 megawatts (GW) of solar energy by 2022. However, it is still challenging for SoftBank, Foxconn and Bharti Airtel to gain access to the above-mentioned solar and electric vehicle power generation markets in India, mainly because electric vehicles in India are still affected by expensive batteries. Even with large subsidies, there is a shortage of charging facilities, and it is still difficult for electric vehicles to become popular in India. Source: CSRone Sustainability Reporting Platform (2017-06-06)
