Outlook Planet C3 2026: India Still has a Long Way to Catch Up in EV Adoption, Says BMW Group India CEO

India has a long way to go in electric vehicle (EV) adoption, with penetration still at about 4% compared to nearly 40% in China, said Hardeep Singh Brar, President & CEO, BMW Group India, speaking at the second edition of the Outlook Planet C3 Summit and Awards.

He outlined key challenges facing the country’s EV transition, including the price gap compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and inadequate charging infrastructure.

“First is pricing. If you compare electric models to ICE vehicles, the price delta is currently around 15–20%, down from 35–40% earlier. As this gap narrows, we are seeing adoption improve. A key reason is the fall in battery costs—from about $120 per kWh earlier to $100 and now close to $80. As battery prices decline, manufacturing costs also come down. Government subsidies have played a crucial role—this transition would not have been possible without them. GST on EVs is just 5%, compared to about 40% on ICE vehicles. At the state level, registration costs average around 12% for ICE vehicles, while EVs are largely exempt. Despite this nearly 40% cost advantage, EVs are still more expensive,” Brar explained.

He was speaking during a fireside chat on the role of circularity in transitioning from EV adoption to EV leadership. The session was moderated by Divya Sharma, ED – India, Climate Group.

Brar added that BMW has tried to address pricing challenges.

“At BMW, we have priced our EVs very close to our ICE models, which is why EVs account for about 50% of our sales.”

However, he noted that overall market penetration remains low.

“If you compare this to the broader market, EV penetration was about 4–4.5% last year. This is still very low compared to markets like China, where it is close to 40%. We have a long way to catch up,” he said.

He also highlighted charging infrastructure as a major bottleneck.

“There are around 30,000 charging points for nearly 75 lakh cars, which translates to a ratio of about 1:250. In China, the ratio is closer to 1:20. The pace of expansion needs to be immense,” Brar noted.

The panel also featured Pravin Saraf, MD, Exide Energy Solutions, who pointed to gaps in India’s lithium-ion battery recycling ecosystem.

“One critical point in the lithium-ion ecosystem is recycling. While recycling in India can help recover materials like lithium and cobalt, these are only intermediate outputs. For cell manufacturing, we need further processed materials, and that ecosystem is still nascent in India. We are a long way from competing with China, which has a well-established, low-cost processing supply chain for cathode materials. This is an area where industry and government must work together to build a robust supply chain,” Saraf said.