It is easier now to start a new business

G Krishna Kumar, NOV 16 2021, 23:32 ISTUPDATED: NOV 17 2021, 05:44 IST

It is easier now to start a new business my experience in setting up an IT company back in 2009 and now in 2021 throws some interesting perspective on the changes

The World Bank has decided to stop publishing the “Ease of Doing Business” and “Ease of Starting Business” reports from this year. The last report on Ease of Starting Business ranks India at 136th position in 2020. While India could improve further, my experience in setting up an IT company back in 2009 and now in 2021 throws some interesting perspective on the changes.    

 

Ease of setting up business: The Company name approval is the first step for registering a business. The process of name approval used to take 15-20 days back in 2009, now it just takes one day. Back in 2009, the name approval was handled by the state government’s Registrar of Companies (ROC), while now it is centralised.  
A major improvement is the existence of a single-window during the company incorporation. This allows for Provident Fund, Professional Tax, ESI, PAN and TAN accounts to be created instantly at the time of incorporation.
Unlike earlier, there is a greater emphasis on self-governance and self-certification with higher penal provisions. The accounting and labour compliances have been simplified now (based on the Companies Act, 2013) as against the Companies Act 1956 used as the basis in 2009.  Labour laws have seen improvement with PF, ESI, Shops and Establishment Act provisions going completely online. The new Labour Code is expected to further simplify compliances.     
Thanks to the Digital India initiatives, video KYC and online application completely removes the need to visit any government office for the whole incorporation process. Is that not wonderful? Company incorporation used to take three months back in 2009 and now it is just about 4-5 days.
Can the turnaround time be further improved? Certainly possible. If we benchmark against New Zealand, where business incorporation takes just half a day, that would be a boon.
Unlike in 2009, nowadays the moment the company is incorporated, non-stop unsolicited calls and emails from at least a dozen private banks follow.
The banks are aggressive in selling why they are the best compared to the competition. Interestingly, the public sector banks don’t figure in this. It is unclear as to how the banks gain access to the contact details. In any case, this experience is certainly not desirable.   

Infrastructure and “anything” as a service ecosystem: The communication infrastructure has seen significant improvement with 5-10 Mbps speed being premium back in 2009, while now 500 Mpbs is a norm for corporate usage.  The other big difference is the type of physical infrastructure.
Unlike earlier, now anything that a business would need is available as a service. This helps the company to focus on core activities while all the non-core/ hygiene activities can be outsourced.  For any company setting up operations in India, managing physical infrastructure would be a major task – this includes the building, security, facilities management among others.   
“Workspace as a service” is the one-stop solution for this. Managed workspace or co-working space has gained popularity as they offer attractive options with flexibility. Similarly, several companies offer HR as a service, recruitment as a service, finance/compliance as a service. This ecosystem provides a great impetus and encouragement for new companies to be established.  

Attracting talent has become tougher: With the IT industry in India doubling over the past 12 years and several MNCs setting their shop in the country, this has meant that the techies have no dearth of options to pick the “right” opportunity.
A recent report from staffing firm Xpheno states that several Indian IT companies have registered an annual net headcount growth of 15-25% over the past five years.
The report also states that 900+ tech startups have received over $27 billion in funding and the spend on tech talent is at an all-time high.  In addition, expansion hiring from existing tech companies has spurred demand for tech talent. On the talent supply side, there is a surge in job seekers now as most job seekers avoided job change last year due to the pandemic.   
We are witnessing nothing less than a war for talent and it is indeed a job seekers’ market. Companies are offering huge salaries, perks like Employee Stock Options (ESOPs), joining bonuses, flexibility to work from anywhere, and even fancy titles to name a few.
Most candidates have 2-3 offers in hand and are constantly looking for “better” options. The current demand-supply mismatch could make India become uncompetitive and some work may move to low-cost countries.
However, no other country can supply 3 lakh fresh engineering graduates in software and related disciplines. Notwithstanding the current challenges, India would continue to be the prime destination for technology companies as the sheer size of the talent available in the country is unprecedented and hard for other countries to match.
Summing up, the ease of setting up a new business has significantly improved over the past 12 years. The ecosystem for supporting new companies to establish their operations has also been a great positive change.
Talent acquisition has become tougher compared to 2009 due to significant demand-supply mismatch, but then India still accounts for the largest pool of highly skilled technology talent in the world. New technology companies will continue to find India attractive!  
(The writer is an Information and Communications Technology professional based in Bengaluru)

 

Burdened telecom sector awaits government intervention

 We had 15 operators back in 1999 and 21 in 2009, and now, it is down to four

G Krishna Kumar, SEP 12 2021, 20:38 ISTUPDATED: SEP 13 2021, 01:33 IST

The recent news of Vodafone Idea Limited’s (VIL) near-bankruptcy situation has sent shockwaves across the telecom sector. VIL accounts for the highest share of rural subscribers in the country. While the overall telecom sector’s financial distress is well known, a significant player like VIL's potential exit is not desirable. Should it exit, the mobile operators' space would become a duopoly with Reliance Jio and Airtel, and the PSU BSNL/MTNL being a fringe player. We had 15 operators back in 1999 and 21 in 2009, and now, it is down to four. Many large global telcos found it challenging to play in the highly competitive Indian market and no wonder, all of them wound up operations during the past decade. So, how many operators would be ideal for India?

 

The Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, or HHI, is often used to measure market concentration and is a metric used to determine market competitiveness. An HHI < 1,500 is a highly competitive market while 1,500 to 2,500 is seen as moderately competitive and greater than 2,500 is a highly concentrated market.
HHI trends in the Indian mobile telephony have always been below 1,500 until 2015. In 2018, the HHI moved to around 2,000 and now it is over 2,800. If VIL exits the Indian market and the subscriber base is shared between Airtel and Reliance, the HHI will be above 4,000. Globally, only China has an HHI of 4,400. China also is unique as all the three mobile operators in the country are controlled by the government. Brazil has about 2,800; USA about 3,000. India would need at least four-five players with relatively similar market shares for a competitive setup that can spur innovation and help mobile subscribers with a better user experience.
BSNL+VIL: A game-changer?
The VIL has debts close to Rs 1.8 lakh crores with 90% payable to the government. The company is struggling with its operations with an ARPU (average revenue per user) of Rs 107, the lowest when compared with the other two private telcos who have an ARPU of Rs 140. While VIL and Jio have similar spectrum holding, Jio has 60% more users per Mhz spectrum than VIL. Increasing the tariff is not an option for VIL as more subscribers will port out and worsen its operational parameters. As per a TRAI report, VIL has lost 42.8 lakh subscribers in June 2021. To stop predatory pricing by mobile operators, VIL has been persuading the government to establish a floor price and provide a level playing field. Like airline ticket prices, can the government create a price range for telcos as well?
For the sake of Indian subscribers, direct and indirect employment generated by VIL and more importantly, to emphasise India’s commitment to the telecom sector, the government should bail out VIL. Can it acquire a controlling stake in or merge with BSNL? But this needs to be done cautiously by setting clear performance parameters. The deal construct should be directly linked to improving subscriber experience parameters. When successive governments have failed to improve BSNL/MTNL’s fortune for decades, can the government be successful in reviving VIL? There are bound to be challenges including HR aspects. However, a strong governance board with experts should oversee the performance of the entity. Globally, there are several examples of government intervention in the private sector yielding significant success to the overall ecosystem. Can the VIL+BSNL become a game-changer and we have a strong government-run mobile operator like China Mobile?     

Satellites for broadband
While India has created an extremely competitive mobile telecom market, we will need four-five operators for sustaining this competitiveness and innovation for a healthy market. Although the entry barrier is high, we should encourage new local companies or global players to provide services in the country.
The price per GB of data in India at $0.16 is the cheapest in the world and no wonder, the average data usage has increased to over 15GB per month, among the highest in the world. However, over 50 crore Indians are not using mobile data. The government should open satellite communication services for improving data coverage. The ultra wide band (UWB) spectrum in the Ku and Ka bands for satellite communication can provide data rates of over 25Mpbs (although theoretically, much higher data rates are possible). This would provide internet access in the most remote areas.
Several global players like Amazon’s Project Kuiper, OneWeb (backed by Airtel), Starlink from Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Canada’s Telesat are at various stages of offering broadband data globally. The spectrum for UWB cannot be auctioned as these are global frequencies. The Indian government should consider allocating spectrum on an administrative basis, of course with appropriate fees and the right checks. Satcom would help the digitally unconnected Indians to become connected.
The government must fast-track the much-delayed 5G auctions. At the same time, spectrum pricing must be handled carefully and unsold spectrum avoided. The government must improve the fibre optic backbone in the country as this will decide our ability to rapidly move into 5G technology.
The overall debt in the telecom sector means that telcos are unable to upgrade their infrastructure. The government should lower the burden on them by reducing taxes and regulatory levies. Presently, Indian telcos pay over 25% (including GST, licence fees, etc) of their gross revenue as tax, compared to less than 10% in other countries.
News reports indicate that the government is working on a relief package for the telecom sector, triggered by the VIL issue. This could provide a breather for VIL, but from a long-term perspective, we need a multi-pronged approach for strengthening the telecom sector.

(The writer is an ICT professional and columnist based in Bengaluru)

Curb corruption in real estate

G Krishna Kumar, JUL 30 2021, 00:52 ISTUPDATED: JUL 30 2021, 01:57 IST
There are gross violations of building byelaws with apartments constructed on residential sites
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Reports indicate that 30-50% of the sale value in secondary (Tier2/Tier3 developers) or resale properties happen in cash.
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Contrary to popular belief, even after fifty-six months since demonetisation, real estate continues to thrive on black money. The only exception appears to be the relatively expensive primary real estate market led by Tier-1 builders.

Reports indicate that 30-50% of the sale value in secondary (Tier2/Tier3 developers) or resale properties happen in cash. A reason often cited is savings on stamp duty by quoting transaction value to be close to the guidance value instead of the market value. What prevents the government from keeping the guidance value at the market price?

Cash and corruption

Of late, apartments constructed by Tier 2/3 builders in residential sites are becoming common in Bengaluru and provide an easy opportunity for cash transactions. While almost all construction suppliers accept digital transactions from builders, it is a mystery as to why the builders still insist on cash from the apartment buyers.
There are gross violations of building byelaws with apartments constructed on residential sites. While BBMP’s building byelaws clearly states that a maximum 3 floors excluding parking can be constructed, the builders openly flout rules and construct 5 or 6 floors.

Although BBMP allows a maximum of three kitchens in a residential site . most apartments will have 10 or 12. Over the past 10-15 years a very “corporate“ term called “joint venture” or JV has gained popularity. A case where the site owner and the builder share the constructed apartments. Both the parties try to maximise their gains and is the main reason for spurt in high rise buildings within residential localities.

What about the quality of construction of these apartments? Who is accountable if such buildings collapse?

The authorities appear to turn a blind eye towards the overall issue. In general, all it takes is just one apartment with 10 houses to set the precedence for others to follow suit. Sample this: A regular residential house would have about 5-10 people, while a high rise apartment in the same site would house 40-50 people. Are our roads and civic infrastructure designed to take on such a load? 

The nice neighbours in residential areas with our typical “namage yaake beku” (why bother) attitude helps the builder-authorities nexus. Neighbours often do not complain, fearing repercussion as our system does not offer any protection to them. Also, why should anyone complain? The violations are so obvious to the authorities. It would boil down to the government and civic authorities’ willingness to act. The nexus between the legislators and civic authorities are too obvious to ignore. How do we get over the ‘wolf guarding the sheep’ phenomena? 

Can the state government audit and publish details about illegally constructed apartments in residential localities? How do Banks provide loans for illegal constructions? Can utility providers like BESCOM and BWSSB refuse connections to these complexes?

The whole purpose of residential locality is to allow people to stay in independent houses. Unlike other cities where apartment and flats are popular, Bengaluru is still known for its residential localities. It is rather sad to see this identity go away.

Clearly GST, RERA and other measures have failed to curb black money and corruption in the real estate sector. It is time the government, civic authorities, and urban planners bring about structural changes that will lead to transparency.
If rules need to be relaxed, so be it, but the system must discourage and penalise wrong doers, at the same time support effective grievance redressal mechanism. Government should empower local residents/neighbourhood associations to stop construction of any building that exceed FAR (Floor Area Ratio) threshold.

For transactions in the secondary market, can the stamp duty be reduced significantly if the transaction is at market value? This could encourage buyers to go for 100% legal transaction.

Until we see some strong system-led actions, the tax paying middle-class will continue to be in a dilemma if they need to compromise on their aspirations or on their principles. In this digital age, isn’t it intriguing that the government remains silent despite the rampant corruption in real estate? It is time the vicious link between black money/corruption and the real estate sector is broken. Can Karnataka’s new chief minister address this on priority and show the way to the rest of the country?

(The writer is an ICT Professional and columnist based in Bengaluru)

Mishandling of Covid 2.0

 G Krishna Kumar  | Updated on July 06, 2021

The govt, healthcare sector and citizens, too, are to blame

The second wave of Covid has stressed and stretched India’s healthcare infrastructure to the limits. It was heart-wrenching to see people losing their loved ones during the wave. It is  time to reflect. There are learnings for the government, the healthcare sector as well as the citizens.

The government and the bureaucracy’s mantra for handling Covid should be “only the paranoid survive”. Our government called victory against Covid-19 much too early. On the vaccine front, there was laxity in procurement and government had do get into firefighting mode.

The opposition parties, by vilifying the vaccine policy, ended up creating vaccine hesitancy, which only added to the chaos. Better planning could have helped reduce the misery to a large extent.

The government would do well to form an empowered group of experts for regular advice and strategy. This group could comprise experts from institutes of national importance and research bodies and industry leaders.

Digital divide?

Developing an application for scheduling 200 crore vaccinations is not an easy task. While the government is responsible for the below par user experience with the CoWIN app, the current version of the app is much better than the March 2021 one. Proactive planning and extensive testing would have helped in creating a better solution for public use.

As CoWIN is available in many local languages, why is there still talk about digital divide? There are 75 crore internet users in the country. The digital literacy has improved significantly over the past few decades, unfortunately it is limited to digital entertainment.

The government should be held accountable for not having brought in more innovative solutions in not envisaging the challenges being faced by the people in remote parts of the country.

One other most important reason for the spread of the virus has been our callous attitude. The authorities are seen pulling up people for not wearing masks or stepping out during lockdowns. This shows either our don’t care/chalta hai attitude or sheer disrespect for rules.

A country well-known for discipline is Japan, where the people are known to follow rules and care for fellow citizens. The Japanese have a long history of wearing masks. Over the past 50-60 years, masks have been commonly used by people when they have common cold /flu, etc. This prevents others from catching infection.

In India, rather than blaming the government for the spread second wave, people on their part will need to be more careful and sensitive to the well-being of fellow citizens.

Doctors and hospitals

Indians are known to glorify doctors when they save lives and, at the same time, blame them for the death of loved ones.

Doctors serving Covid patients admit that they are learning every day, as each patient responds differently. Considering the unknowns in the treatment of Covid, increased transparency on a patient’s condition would help reduce any possible friction that may arise with the patient’s family members. While medical negligence must be strictly dealt with, it must be acknowledged that most doctors are doing their best in the given circumstances.

For handling the surge in patients, allowing students pursuing medicine and nursing to assist will prove handy and, at the same time, it will provide excellent hands-on experience for them. The government could consider allowing ayurveda and homeopathy doctors and students, too, to handle the patient load. This can potentially offer a large buffer pool of healthcare staff during crisis times.

Some questions that beg answers from the healthcare professionals are: Why didn’t they not alert the government strongly enough about the risk of a second wave? Also, why didn’t the private hospitals not prepare proactively if they knew the second wave was certain?

As the second wave of Covid recedes, it’s time for the government, the healthcare sector and citizens to pause and reflect. While a large part of the learnings from the mishandling of the second wave must be for the government, it is equally important for the people and the healthcare system not to repeat the mistakes committed.

The writer is a Bengaluru-based columnist. Views are personal

Monitoring digital content

G Krishna Kumar  | Updated on April 13, 2021

 The mechanism must be transparent and unbiased

The government’s Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 sent shock-waves across the digital and OTT industry. And why not? This is the first time the government has undertaken any initiative towards regulating the hitherto unregulated digital media and OTT (over the top) platforms. It is a fine line between regulation and restriction and hence the government is offering repeated clarification that it is aiming for “soft touch” regulations

India’s Internet usage has been growing rapidly, doubling to over 70 crore users now compared to 2015, and is expected to touch 100 crore users by 2025. During the past three years, subscribers on the digital and OTT platforms have also grown rapidly.

Two-sided marketplace

Digital platforms (like Facebook, YouTube) and OTT players (like Amazon Prime, Netflix) are often called as intermediaries in a two-sided marketplace. In such a market, two sets of players interact through the intermediary or platform. In the case of, say, Netflix, the two sides would be the content creator (movie or documentary producer) on one side and the consumer who watches the content, on the other.

“Network effect” plays a major role in a two-sided marketplace. Essentially, more the number of subscribers on a platform, the better it is for the content providers. The content moderation guidelines need to balance the needs of the general public and the content providers.

Social media companies have, of late, been facing a trust deficit as issues related to data breaches, privacy, provocative posts, fake news, etc., have been reported across several countries. India banning Chinese apps for data breach and the subsequent surge in equivalent ‘Made in India’ apps/platforms is well known. This should serve as a warning to the global tech giants on India’s ability to act in case of non-compliance.

EU regulators are pushing for laws that would hold the intermediary companies directly responsible for dissemination of illegal content on their platforms.

The UK is seeking to hold the intermediary companies responsible for a predefined list of online harms including illegal content and harmful user behaviours. France requires companies to remove illegal content within 24 hours from receiving a notification.

Singapore’s digital content regulation by Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) focusses on community standards while providing more choices for adults and protecting the young. IMDA believes in co-regulation as an effective mechanism.

Recently the Australian government started an inquiry into the role of global technology firms/platforms in spreading false information. Already, global tech firms have responded by launching a voluntary code to prevent spread of false information on their platforms.

India’s plan to trace the source or origin of harmful content is a good step as this will deter mischievous elements from spreading false or harmful content on social media platforms. This will also push the content providers on OTT platforms and OTT companies to abide by the guidelines.

However, considering the size of the digital user base in the country, the government must create the right framework to understand the challenges in implementation. Can anyone raise objection, and how will the system handle if there are thousands of complaints? The online platforms should provide clear information on their operational model and responsibilities.

India’s plan to establish a three-level grievance redress mechanism looks to be a good model. The grievance redress officer needs to acknowledge complaints within 24 hours and resolve them within 15 days. The government has defined a threshold of 50 lakh registered subscribers for an intermediary to be considered as “significant”. Such intermediaries are mandated additional compliance and reporting. Overall, it is still not clear how the whole model will be implemented.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry will formulate an oversight mechanism. The government having all powers can be tricky, but then it depends on maturity of the overall ecosystem, including the government, in creating an unbiased complaint redress system. While the government is implementing content moderation, issues like consumer/data protection and consumer’s privacy must not be diluted.

Considering the complexities, it would take at least a year for the impact of the present regulations to be visible. With several stakeholders involved in the process, regular audits and reporting will help in strengthening the regulations and bring a practical, unbiased and transparent mechanism in the country.

The writer is an ICT professional and columnist based in Bengaluru. Views are personal

Can RBI fix flaws in NEFT?

G Krishna Kumar, FEB 04 2021, 00:59 ISTUPDATED: FEB 04 2021, 07:47 IST

 In spite of the myriad of options for digital transactions like Bhim UPI, e-wallets, NEFT or National Electronic fund transfer is popular among many Indians. NEFT transactions increased from Rs 172.22 lakh crore in FY18 to Rs 229.45 lakh crore in FY20. Thanks to digital banking in general and NEFT in particular, footfall in banks has steadily declined by over 50% over the past 3 years.

Before we understand the flaws in the present NEFT system and the possible solutions, let us understand NEFT a bit. NEFT was started in November 2005 by India’s banking regulator Reserve Bank of India (RBI). NEFT allows bank customers to transfer funds between two NEFT-enabled bank accounts through electronic messages and uses an hourly batch processing system.   
RBI has taken proactive actions to ensure safe transactions for the general public. A case is the recent swift actions from the regulator in curbing unauthorised ‘lightning speed’ loan disbursal apps. However, fund transfer using NEFT can be very stressful due to flaws in the existing system. RBI would do well to address the flaws and help in strengthening the system.  
When someone plans to transfer money using NEFT from one bank to another bank, the first step is to register the payee or recipient. As part of the registration process, some banks require the payee account number to be entered twice to avoid errors, while other banks register the payee with a one-time entry of the account details. Where is the flaw? The current system does not check if the payee details - account number, IFSC code, and name entered are accurate.  What prevents the current system to validate the information as done in the case of UPI for fund transfer?
The process gets tricky during the actual transfer. If the payee account number is wrong and there is no other account with this account number within the payee’s bank, the amount will be returned to the sender’s account. If the account number is a valid account held by another individual within the payee bank, the amount will be credited into his/her account without any check for name or branch code.
To avoid erroneous transfer, wise people suggest that first a token amount be transferred before the full amount. In this digital age, there is no need for such two steps process, if the system validates the payee details during registration.  Also, NEFT transfer should not be done without matching the name and IFSC code. If these two steps are mandated by RBI, erroneous money transfer cases can be completely eliminated.
What happens in the event of an erroneous transfer? Anecdotal data indicates that over 70-80% of the unintended recipients promptly alert their banks and the money is returned to the sender. Banking experts indicate that the prompt action from the unintended recipients can be attributed to genuine good intent or fear of potential implications considering that the money has been credited from an unknown sender. The present system provides a great opportunity for the rest of 20-30% of the cases, allowing them to make quick money and abscond. While banks would try to recover the money on a “best-effort” basis, there is no legal protection for the fund transferor.
Of course, the transferor’s fault is that he or she entered the wrong account number. Just imagine a situation where an erroneous transfer resulted in the amount credited into a fraud’s account outside the state. Essentially, Digital banking infrastructure has simply failed in providing a timely alert and allowing preventive or corrective action. It is concerning that the flaws with the NEFT system is well known among banking staff, yet no action is taken in the guise of system limitation.
RBI’s move to allow 24x7 availability of NEFT and RTGS is welcome. However, the support system and infrastructure for this are completely missing. Attempts to contact the phone help or Website/ email etc is futile. Meaningless automated response stating that the issue will be taken up within 48 hours is not helping. Urgent need for RBI to mandate the Banks to provide a resolution within an SLA (Service Level Agreement) 30 minutes or 60 minutes is needed. 
With rapid advancements in technologies like AI/ML, the banking infrastructure must provide the alerts to the Bank managers to prevent fraudulent transactions.   
Is the RBI listening?
(The writer is an ICT professional and columnist based in Bengaluru)

India’s EV conundrum: Incentives in place, but no infrastructure

G Krishna Kumar, DEC 31 2020, 01:27 ISTUPDATED: DEC 31 2020, 02:09 IST

Social media was recently abuzz that a Bengaluru-based car-maker had plans to launch an electric car with a 500-km range per charge. Assuming this plan is successful, it would help overcome range anxiety and would certainly push fence-sitters towards buying electric cars. 

Over the past 18 months, four big car-makers have launched electric vehicles (EV) in the Indian market. Notwithstanding the Covid-19 impact, electric car sales as a percentage of overall car sales in India is abysmally low at less than 0.2%. Electric scooters fare slightly better at 0.4% of overall two-wheeler sales -- a worrying sign for the government despite incentives like reducing GST on electric vehicles to 5%, providing income tax benefits and waiving road tax. To promote EV uptake, the government should consider waiving highway toll fees for EVs, perhaps till 2025.
Global trends indicate that EV penetration is about 3% of the overall sales. The EV market in the European Union grew by over 40% in 2019 compared to the previous year. The EU countries are offering an environmental bonus for car-makers and purchase price subsidies for EV buyers.
India has set a goal that by 2030, 30% of cars sold annually should be EVs. But to realise this goal, the buyer, government, and the industry need to play their respective parts effectively.

Economics of electric car purchase
In any car segment, EVs cost at least 20-30% more than their petrol and diesel counterparts. However, the running cost of an EV would just be 15-18% that of a petrol car. Sample this: The current petrol price is about Rs 83-85 per litre. Petrol price has increased 20-30% every five years since 2000 and this trend is expected to continue. The prevailing per-unit electricity rate for domestic consumption is Rs 5-7. Charging an electric car with 250-300 km range would cost about Rs 220-250 per month.
With few moving parts, electric car maintenance costs 20-30% of that of petrol cars. When we consider these aspects along with the income tax benefits, the extra cost paid for the electric car can be recovered in 2.5-4 years. Essentially, over five years, the EV becomes cheaper compared to regular cars. But the big challenge today is the unavailability of compelling EV alternatives in the compact car segment (comprising 70-75% of the overall car market) that can provide a decent range of 250 km per charge. The other big challenge is the availability of infrastructure.
For an existing car-maker to build a significant presence in the EV market, it should invest in EV technologies and adapt to the needs of the Indian market. A recent report states this would involve Rs 3.5 lakh crore Capex investment from all the car-makers over the next 5-7 years. A large part of this expenditure is likely to be used for acquiring companies in the EV space. Will these companies undertake such expenditure instead of protecting their current business?   

Charging infrastructure
Charging infrastructures in cities have improved significantly over the past year. For example, Bengaluru’s electricity provider Bescom has installed DC fast-charging infrastructure in 12 locations across Bengaluru. Also, some car-makers are offering anytime emergency charging for their customers within city limits.
It still takes 30 minutes to over an hour to obtain a meaningful range in the car. The government has planned for charging stations with 50KW capacity every 25 km on highways. In addition, there are plans for 100KW charging stations every 100 km, catering to heavy-duty EVs like trucks and buses. 
Statistical analysis in the EU and the US indicate that the number of cars per public charging station must be five to 10 to avoid queuing at charging stations. Currently, in India, there are about 650 charging stations, compared to three lakh in China.
India has about 22 cars per 1,000 people, compared to the US with 980 cars and China with 164 cars per 1,000 people. An International Energy Agency (IEA) report indicates that India’s car market is poised to grow significantly to 175 cars per 1,000 people by 2040.
 Assuming 60-70 cars per 1,000 people by 2030 in India and considering the government’s target of 30% cars as EVs, we will have over 2.5 crore EVs. Even if we consider 25 lakh electric cars by 2025, the number of public charging stations required will be about 4-5 lakh. The government should aggressively work on improving the public charging infrastructure through a PPP model. The biggest challenge is the availability of reliable power supply at these charging stations, especially along highways. The government must incentivise and push for solar-based charging stations. The solar-based pilot phase on the Delhi-Chandigarh highway must be expanded across the country. This will give confidence to the public about the government’s proactive action in establishing infrastructure.

R&D  
India needs to invest in alternative technologies like induction charging. Essentially, highways will have a charging lane, and EVs driven on this lane get charged wirelessly, removing range anxiety completely. This is an interesting concept, but in the present form is expensive.
Any research on creating an affordable mass-market solution for highways, parking lots, etc., will revolutionise India’s EV market.
Another area for research is on developing mass-market solid-state batteries for EVs.
While FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and EV) schemes are a step in the right direction, the government must create a strong EV ecosystem to help India become a leading player in the EV manufacturing and components space.
The government must play a significant role for India to march towards zero-emission. This must be supported by car-makers, providing compelling alternatives for people to switch to EV.
(The writer is a Bengaluru-based ICT professional and EV enthusiast)