Study: India needs to double its EV workforce to fully localised EV industry by 2030

India has to boost its yearly addition of EV-ready workforce from 15,000 to 30,000 to achieve full localization of EV components by 2030, according to research by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. The release of SIAM's 'EV Skill Gap Study' on Tuesday indicated that the introduction of EVs is estimated to directly create about 2,00,000 employees (excluding shop floor and contractual positions) and that recruiting and workforce training will require a total talent investment of Rs 13,552 crore.

To achieve the government's target of 30% adoption of electric vehicles by 2030, the Indian automotive sector would require up to two lakh qualified workers.

"To reach 100 cent localization of EV components, India needs to create 30,000 EV-ready workers year till 2030. The 2030 strategy requires India to generate twice as many EV jobs annually as it does now—15,000 EV workers are added annually," the research stated.

Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Steel HD Kumaraswamy delivered the findings during a workshop organised by SIAM.

43 per cent of the technical competencies between internal combustion engines (ICE) and electric vehicles (EVs) have little overlap, and as a result, new personnel would need to be trained, the research further pointed out.

On the other hand, current personnel may need to retrain to address the 27% of technical abilities that have a high overlap between ICE and EV.

"The expected hiring cost would be Rs 7,671 crore, while the expenditure on training would be around Rs 5,881 crore. The total investment on talent is estimated to be around Rs 13,552 crore," the report reads.

According to the research, by 2030, India will need sixty automotive R&D centres.

Only 57.44 percent of B.E. and B. Tech. graduates are employable and even less in the digital and EV sectors, according to the survey.

The studies suggested that India revise its curriculum in 15 different skills. A 38 per cent professor shortage exists overall at the best engineering institutes. Excellent EV educators would rather work in business than in academia.