Preparing For A Post Pandemic Economy: From sunset to sunrise Areas Of Growth Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog outlines five key sunrise areas of growth that will enable India’s disruptive transformation in a post-pandemic world. The COVID-19 pandemic has been extensively disruptive in terms of economic activity and loss of human lives across the globe. At the same time, this crisis has presented us with unique opportunities that can be leveraged to build back differently and innovatively. India’s urban population will double in the next decade. More than half a billion people will live, work and travel in Indian cities. This rapid growth will pose several social, economic and environmental challenges. India must take the lead to build new industries that will accelerate growth and create jobs. This transformation is feasible when we advance technology, foster innovation and become champions in emerging areas of global growth. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and in recent times China focused on sunrise sectors, unleashed a wave of reforms and embraced innovation to grow on a sustained basis for long time periods. In India, the key to a disruptive transformation lies in five sunrise areas of growth. Firstly, the future lies in mobility that will be shared, connected and electric. Mobility is causing
the biggest disruption of today. The United States of America already has over 900 cars per 1000 persons while Europe has over 800. In contrast, India has only around 20 cars per thousand people. This presents a unique opportunity--our low share of vehicles per capita can be turned into a huge advantage by switching to an affordable, accessible and clean mobility ecosystem. The average price of a lithium battery that was over US $1000 in 2010 has fallen to a mere US $137 per kilowatt-hour and will come down to less than $100 in the next three years. Such steeply falling lithium-ion battery pack prices have made high-mileage electric service vehicles cost-competitive. To support the EV segment, the government has already brought about numerous interventions, including a lower GST structure, tax deduction on interest for loans, and has supported procurement through the FAME II scheme. Two-wheelers constitute over 70% of India’s total vehicle population. In the 2W and 3W EV ecosystem, India has a massive opportunity to become the lowest cost global manufacturer of electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers.
10 | KiaOra India | June 2021 INZBC.ORG