India, Germany Stress Integrated Planning and Skills Push for Scalable Electric Mobility

New Delhi: The Indo-German Partnership for Green and Sustainable Development (GSDP) convened the ninth edition of its GSDP Conversation Series at Maharashtra Sadan, focusing on ‘Electric Mobility: From System Integration to Skills Development’. The high-level roundtable brought together senior officials from central ministries, state and city governments, public transport undertakings, DISCOMs, industry leaders, financiers, skill development institutions and international partners to deliberate on accelerating India’s electric mobility transition.

The discussions highlighted that achieving India’s ambitious electric mobility targets will require moving beyond isolated pilot projects to a coordinated, ecosystem-wide approach. Participants underlined the importance of integrated planning across renewable energy, transport, manufacturing, finance and skill development, along with stronger coordination between the Centre, states and urban local bodies.

The dialogue noted that Indo-German cooperation—grounded in long-standing collaboration on public transport modernisation, renewable energy, urban development and vocational education—offers a strong foundation to jointly advance next-generation electric mobility solutions in India.

Participants also reviewed India’s evolving multi-ministerial policy framework supporting electric mobility. This includes major national initiatives such as the PM eDrive Scheme worth ₹10,900 crore for vehicle electrification and charging infrastructure, the PM eBus Sewa programme deploying 10,000 electric buses through public-private partnerships, the ₹3,435-crore Payment Security Mechanism introduced in 2024 to de-risk large-scale e-bus operations, and the 2024 Charging Infrastructure Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Power and BEE to ensure interoperability, safety, tariffs and smart charging standards.

Delivering the keynote address, Christine Toetzke, Director General for Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern/Southeastern Europe at Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), said electric mobility represents a broader societal transformation rather than just a technological shift. She reaffirmed Germany’s commitment to supporting India through system-level planning, vocational skills development, and innovation in areas such as battery management and circular economy solutions.

The thematic panel discussion featured Promod R of Bosch Mobility India, Mahua Acharya of Intent Platform and former CEO of CESL, and Meenu Sarawgi of the Automotive Skills Development Council. The session was moderated by Swati Khanna of KfW and Manjunath Chande of GIZ. Panelists and senior officials stressed the need to align national schemes with local implementation capacity and adopt system-wide approaches encompassing depot electrification, grid readiness, multimodal integration, transparent procurement models and workforce development.

Key themes discussed included multimodal electrification integrating metros, buses, shared mobility and last-mile services; strengthening charging infrastructure and grid readiness in coordination with DISCOMs; improving financing and procurement frameworks for EVs; addressing skill gaps while promoting gender inclusion; and deepening Indo-German collaboration in areas such as standardisation, battery circularity and vocational training.

The dialogue reaffirmed the shared commitment of India and Germany to accelerate clean, efficient and inclusive mobility solutions. Stakeholders agreed on priority areas for continued collaboration and emphasised the role of the GSDP as a crucial platform for coordinated action in India’s electric mobility journey.