“Whether it is CAFE norms or Delhi’s EV policy, the ultimate aim is net zero,” said RC Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL). He advocated inclusion of biogas in the transport fuel mix, describing it as potentially the cheapest fuel source available to India.
In an interview with businessline, Bhargava said small cars must remain a fixture of the Indian market for at least the next two decades. He noted that lower per capita income levels make larger vehicles unaffordable for many, while highlighting biogas as a “friendly” and viable fuel alternative for the small-car segment.
“As a major agricultural nation with the world’s largest livestock population, India possesses unparalleled biogas potential,” Bhargava said. He emphasised that the country has both the raw animal waste and the necessary means to leverage this resource to bolster the rural economy and support agricultural needs.
Natural wealth
Clarifying that he was speaking in a personal capacity rather than on behalf of Maruti Suzuki, Bhargava said he has never opposed electric vehicles. While acknowledging that all OEMs, including MSIL, are actively promoting EVs, he argued that the industry cannot afford to ignore a “large, valuable, and entirely homegrown” resource like biogas, a fuel source that requires no imports and leverages India’s own natural wealth.
Addressing the supply chain risks, Bhargava said an “EV-only” approach poses a threat to energy security. He pointed out that since battery cells are currently imported almost entirely from China, increasing EV production directly increases India’s import dependency, a reality that necessitates a more diversified technological roadmap.
“What happens if for some geopolitical reasons there is a disruption in supplies? The companies that are dependent on EVs to a large extent, will have huge issues. We have also seen that the governments do not continue with their subsidies indefinitely. You see what’s happened in the US, Europe and China, everywhere they are cutting back on the subsidies,” he explained.
Highlighting the risks of subsidy-driven growth, Bhargava said the global auto industry is currently recalibrating. He pointed out that many companies have recently incurred large investment write-offs after realising that the actual pace of EV adoption has failed to meet the ambitious projections made just a few years ago.
“We have to prevent that risk also because I don’t know for how long government would continue with subsidies…If you look at what happened globally, nowhere, not even the most developed countries today, electric cars are near 100 per cent. Customers everywhere are not willing to put everything into electric cars…that is why in Europe electric cars and hybrids are selling more or less in equal numbers, and the trend is similar in the US. In China also strong hybrids or plug-in hybrids are growing decently,” Bhargava added.