India's practical approach to sustainable transportation embraces diverse technologies beyond electric vehicles, creating a unique roadmap suited to national conditions.
29 Mar 2025 | 2351 Views | By Kiran Murali and Ketan Thakkar
India’s journey toward clean mobility is not about racing to catch up with the West—it’s about building a sustainable path that fits its own realities. While the Global North is pushing aggressively toward full electrification, India and much of the Global South are adopting a more balanced and pragmatic approach.
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India’s journey toward clean mobility is not about racing to catch up with the West—it’s about building a sustainable path that fits its own realities. While the Global North is pushing aggressively toward full electrification, India and much of the Global South are adopting a more balanced and pragmatic approach.
According to Vikram Gulati, Country Head and Executive Vice President – Corporate Affairs and Governance, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, this isn’t a sign of lag—it’s a reflection of strategic adaptability.
“The future is electrified—but not electric alone,” says Gulati. “Every market has its journey. What matters is the collective shift away from fossil fuels toward technologies that are sustainable, scalable, and suited to the local context.”
In 2024, electric vehicles accounted for just over 2% of new car sales in India. On the surface, the number may seem modest, but it conceals a more profound transformation.
India is laying the foundation for a clean mobility future through a diverse technology mix that includes battery electric vehicles, strong hybrids, ethanol-blended fuels, CNG, and emerging flex-fuel technologies.
The government has already rolled out E20 fuel, replacing 20% of gasoline with ethanol, and nearly every major automaker has showcased flex-fuel prototypes at recent Auto Expos. At the same time, the CNG network is expanding steadily, with compressed biogas (CBG) expected to play a key role. Hybrid vehicles are also experiencing increased interest, offering a transitional pathway for both consumers and manufacturers.
Gulati views this multifuel ecosystem as crucial to India’s strategy. While electrification will accelerate, he believes ethanol, CNG, and hybrids will continue to play an equally important role. In his view, by 2030, India will have one of the most technologically diverse and resilient clean mobility landscapes in the world—rooted in energy security, affordability, and real-world feasibility.
Across the globe, however, the mobility transition is unfolding in very different ways. In developed markets such as Europe and the United States, policy incentives and regulatory mandates have propelled battery electric vehicles to the forefront. Yet, even these regions are seeing signs of recalibration. Gulati points to recent trends in the European Union, where electric and plug-in hybrid sales declined in 2024 while strong hybrid vehicles gained momentum. The shift, he says, is a clear indication that infrastructure readiness and total cost of ownership remain significant barriers, even in mature markets.
China, on the other hand, has emerged as the clear frontrunner in electrified technologies. It accounted for 6.7 million of the 11 million battery electric vehicles sold globally in 2024 and 4.5 million of the 6 million plug-in hybrids. The scale and speed of China’s transition are unmatched, but Gulati cautions against assuming it is a one-size-fits-all template.
In the Global South, the story is more varied and nuanced. Brazil and other Latin American economies are leaning heavily into biofuels, building on decades of ethanol use. Southeast Asian nations are experiencing strong demand for hybrid and plug-in hybrid technologies, driven by infrastructure limitations and the need for flexible energy options. Gulati emphasizes that, while there is a clear global movement toward electrification, the direction and pace are profoundly influenced by regional context.
“There is a clear trend globally towards electrification,” Gulati said. However, there is also geographical diversity in how that transition is unfolding.
As India moves forward, Gulati doesn’t expect internal combustion engines to vanish anytime soon. Instead, he sees them evolving—running on cleaner fuels, working in tandem with hybrid systems, and contributing to the broader decarbonisation effort. The focus, he argues, is shifting beyond just tailpipe emissions to a more comprehensive “well-to-wheel” and lifecycle-based understanding of sustainability. From energy inputs to recycling and material recovery, the new metrics for green mobility will be much broader than they’ve been in the past.
In a world often divided between all-electric ambition and fossil-fuel inertia, Gulati’s message stands out for its realism. The road to net zero, he argues, is not a single highway but a network of different lanes—all heading in the same direction but at various speeds, shaped by different constraints.
“The future is electrified—but not electric alone.”