Unified efforts needed to develop indigenous fuel cells for electric vehicles

New Delhi, Feb 11 (KNN) Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and MSMEs Nitin Gadkari called for adopting an integrated approach for developing indigenous fuel cells in the field of electric vehicles in a meeting on Wednesday.

He chaired a meeting on developing indigenous fuel cells in the field of electric vehicles with govt agencies and representatives from research institutions.

The Minister urged scientists, academia and industry to harness hydrogen-based energy, it is a cost-effective and easily available mode in the country. He indicated the lowering costs of solar power in India, which can help energise other modes of fuels.

He informed that with nearly 81 percent of Li-ion battery components available locally, India stands a very good chance for value addition at lower costs, and resultant employment generation at large scales.

Reacting to the presentations made for different technologies including Li-ion, metal-ion, Sodium Sulphur, Hydrogen, Iron Sulphur, Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Cell System, ZincGel, etc, the minister said, economic viability is the basis of any successful technology.

The Minister said, there is vast scope in the area of Lithium-ion battery too despite countries like China dominating in the sector. He said, India’s mining entities could look for acquiring component assets globally and grab the opportunity as there is still 49 percent scope in this field.

He indicated towards the growing pace of the automobile industry which has a turnover of Rs 4.5 lakh crore at present and is set to reach Rs 10 lakh crore very soon. He also said that initially, one crore vehicles will go for scrapping under the new vehicle scrapping policy, which will result in the availability of cheaper aluminium, copper, rubber, steel and other products. He said these will have the potential to reduce the price of battery components.

The Minister suggested to take ahead the suggestions brought forth in the meeting by integrating industry experience in the field. He assured the participants of his complete commitment to adopting the best technologies. He said next-generation batteries will not only minimise vehicular pollution in India but make India a global supplier of EVs.

NITI Ayog CEO Amitabh Kant stressed upon concentrating on lithium-ion alternative batteries and supported the idea of mining companies exploring opportunities abroad for acquiring assets in this regard. He said, NITI Ayog has collaborated with four IITs including Guwahati and Delhi for research in aluminum-ion batteries.

The meeting was attended by MoS-RTH Gen (Retd) Dr. VK Singh, Prime Minister’s Principal Scientific Advisor K Vijay Raghavan, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, Secretary RTH  Giridhar Aramane and senior representatives from DRDO, ISRO, CSIR and IITs.