The global automotive industry is undergoing a paradigm shift. It is trying to switch to alternative energy-intensive options. Not staying behind, India is also investing in this electric mobility shift for the most probable reasons of the burden of oil imports, rising pollution, and international commitments to tackle global climate change. For India, the next few decades might just turn out to be truly greener.
The country aims to be the third-largest automotive industry in the world by 2030, presently it is the fifth-largest market. Reliance on the conventional modes of fuel-intensive mobility looks less promising and will not be sustainable while catering to a vast domestic market. The concept of “Shared, Connected, and Electric” mobility is being developed by policymakers with an ambitious target of achieving 100% electrification by 2030.
Owing to the 100% FDI possibility, the electric vehicle industry in India is picking pace with the development of new manufacturing hubs and improved infrastructure for charging stations. PLI to encourage domestic production of electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and a boost for localized ACC battery storage products are the growth drivers for the Indian EV industry. Over 300,000 EV units were sold in India in 2021.
A projection made by India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) states that the Indian EV industry will grow at a CAGR of 36% and the EV battery industry will grow at a CAGR of 30% by 2026. Possessing a relative abundance of renewable energy resources and leveraging the availability of skilled manpower from the adjacent sectors, India stands to benefit from this transition to electric vehicles.
The policies are laid out in the budget 2022 to facilitate battery swapping and interoperability standards that will make for uniform battery technology will further add the necessary stimulus to the growth of the industry. The honourable Finance Minister had mentioned that there will be support to the private sector to build the infrastructure for the EV ecosystem. We can confidently project that a huge ecosystem is getting built under “Batteries as a Service” that has the potential of generating a substantial number of skilled and unskilled jobs in the sector.
The overall increase in Capex and push on AtmaNirbhar Bharat will be beneficial in the long run for domestic production of EV and EV Infrastructure. The increasing vehicle population will give a push to the ecosystem of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and component companies while encouraging employment in the EV sector.
The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has estimated that the EV industry will create one crore direct jobs by 2030 and we can predict that this will give rise to approximately five crore indirect jobs in the sector. EV Companies would focus more on the technical and specialized skills to cater rapid rise in demand. While expertise in the areas like artificial intelligence, analytics, and app development would dominate the office jobs, the core manufacturing & factory setup would demand the constant supply of a blue-collar workforce.
Most likely to see a positive bias towards hiring employees from the core automotive & allied sectors as this cohort will bring the domain expertise and maturity with them in the areas such as supply chain, operations & procedures, and customer behaviour which any new-age business would want to leverage. The focus needs to be on upskilling some of these profiles with electrical and electronics concepts.
The skilling initiatives depicted in the budget with the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) to be aligned with dynamic industry needs, will help in creating new skilling avenues and generate a pool of employable resources to be leveraged by the emerging sectors like electric vehicles and allied businesses. Overall the budget looks greener for the future & growth of employment in the EV and EV Infrastructure sector.
Source: financialexpress.com
