Why Are India’s Cities Still Waiting for Electric Buses?

India’s push toward EV30@30 is stronger than ever — but meeting our clean mobility goals depends on one critical challenge: scaling up the supply of Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs), especially electric buses. Being the world’s second-largest automotive market in both production and consumption (OICA, 2024), India’s shift to electric mobility is central to achieving its climate targets. Yet the numbers tell a sobering story. In FY2024–25, only 3% of all bus sales in India were electric — just 3,400 e-buses compared to over 100,000 ICE buses. This falls far short of India’s commitment under the EV30@30 campaign, which aims for 40% of new bus sales to be electric by 2030, barely five years from now. In this video, we break down why progress has been so slow, what’s holding India back, and why the country may need to look beyond demand incentives and consider supply-side strategies like ZEV Availability Standards to accelerate adoption. Also check out our latest publication on ZEV Availiability Standards- https://itdp.in/resource/accelerating...