Last year, India announced its bold intention of electrifying the nation’s automobile fleet by 2030. The shift to EVs could ease concerns about economic and energy security and climate change. If EVs are going to significantly reduce flows of oil through the Indian economy, policymakers need to ensure that using one less gallon of petrol when driving electric cars will actually cut an equivalent gallon of oil out of the economy. This requires focusing on the refining industry. A successful switch to EVs, coupled with strategically increased refining capacity, could be both a geoeconomic and geopolitical manoeuvre, increasing India’s purchasing power with world oil suppliers and boosting regional market clout by exporting petroleum to neighbouring countries. An EV future that replaces petrol and diesel engines could be one of the keys to sustainable Indian growth. But to ensure this is the case, it must be determined where the displaced hydrocarbon feedstock will go.

(Live Mint)