New Delhi: Policy think tank Niti Aayog has indefinitely postponed a global summit aimed at reinvigorating the nation's electric vehicle sector, as the war in West Asia disrupts international travel.
The Global Electric Mobility Summit, planned for 21-22 April in New Delhi, was designed to be an event to court major investments for the world’s third-largest auto market. However, government correspondence reviewed by Mint shows that the regional war has forced a strategic retreat until travel conditions normalize.
The delay comes at a critical time for New Delhi. The energy shocks radiating from the West Asia crisis have intensified India’s urgency to decouple its transport sector from crude oil imports, yet the nation's primary platform for securing the necessary foreign capital is now in limbo.
While domestic EV sales are increasing, the government is struggling to land big-ticket foreign manufacturing commitments. This postponement threatens to further stall a scheme that has so far failed to attract a single new international carmaker to Indian shores.
Policy gap
The 2025 Scheme to Promote the Manufacturing of Electric Passenger Cars in India (SPMEPCI) by the Union heavy industries ministry sought investments worth at least $500 million from foreign electric car makers, in return for a reduced import duty on some fully built electric cars.
However, to date, the scheme has seen no responses from the industry, as foreign car makers such as Hyundai, Kia, and Mercedes Benz have already set up manufacturing units in India.
Emails sent to Niti Aayog, Hyundai, Kia, and Mercedes Benz remained unanswered.
Mint first reported on 2 December 2025 that Niti Aayog was planning a summit to attract domestic and global investments into India’s electric vehicle (EV) sector. Mint reported on 6 April that the Bureau of Energy Efficiency had revived its ‘Go Electric’ campaign, asking electric two-wheeler makers to spearhead adoption.
To be sure, India’s EV adoption has progressed in FY26. Data from the government’s Vahan portal showed that electric two-wheeler sales jumped to 1.4 million in FY26 from 252,787 in FY22.
About 8.2% of the 29.74 million new vehicles sold in FY26 were electric, compared with 7.5% in the previous year, Vahan data showed.
Domain experts said technology transfers have played a crucial part in the growth of the automobile sector across the world. “Foreign investment can come in many forms, but to stimulate growth alongside investment, we also need to acquire or develop technology to launch products that are contemporary as well as fast to market,” said Ashim Sharma, senior partner and Business Unit head, Nomura Research Institute Solutions and Consulting.
China’s EV dominance shifted from early technology transfers to a model of massive R&D, raw material control, and aggressive state policy to achieve rapid, high-tech scaling, he said.