New Delhi, June 8 -- The Lok Sabha secretariat is in the process of allocating electric vehicles (EV) to 40 senior staffers. Convergence Energy Services Limited is developing an EV-leasing model for government use, and the Union finance ministry has encouraged public sector banks and insurers to make the switch. However, these initiatives lack specific targets or firm timelines. They effectively address at most 0.25% of all vehicles in India, with government- and PSU-owned vehicles making up roughly 1 in every 400 vehicles on Indian roads. This slow EV adoption also exposes India to global energy shocks, like the ones currently witnessed in the ongoing West Asia crisis. With India importing 80% of its crude oil requirements, experts have advocated for a wider shift towards electrification, which not only ensures energy security but also comes with co-benefits for the environment and economics. Even the government's flagship schemes such as FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India) 1 and 2, and subsequently the present PM e-Drive scheme, only cater to a small fraction of the overall vehicle base and is inconsistent with the ambition of 30% EV sales penetration by 2030 set in March 2018. For example, the schemes primarily target buses run by State Transport Undertakings (STUs), which comprise only around 2% of the total number of buses in India. In FY2025-26, EV penetration stood at just above 8%. The global average is already at 25%. Countries that have left India far behind include not just wealthy European nations or China, which is a pioneer, but even Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia-economies that are smaller, according to the International Energy Agency. A Niti Aayog's August 2025 report said, "India has progressed to only about 7.6 % of the sales in 2024 being electric, which is far behind its target of 30% by 2030. Thus, it has taken nearly 10 years to reach a penetration level of 7.6% and now needs to increase this share by over 22% in the next 5 years alone." For a start, Sharif Qamar, associate director at The Energy and Resources Institute, called for a definitive electrification target for each government department, with mandatory reporting on achievement, rather than open-ended guidance. "If such a target is given to all the central and state government departments, the signal is very clear to the private sector and citizens." He said India Post offers a case study in cost-driven adoption where he led research which provided concrete evidence that EV adoption for India Post yields significant cost and environmental savings. But experts such as Amit Bhatt, India managing director of the International Council on Clean Transportation, said the centre needs to look beyond demand-side incentives and support programmes and adopt more efficient policy levers. The most obvious among them are Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandates that require automakers to sell a minimum share of zero-emission vehicles. While subsidy schemes such as FAME or PM E-DRIVE depend on government spending, ZEV forces automakers to invest in EV research and development (R&D) decades earlier than they otherwise would have, creating a predictable long-term market signal, said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment. Bhatt also said concerns regarding a dearth of charging infrastructure will indirectly be taken care oftoo by the manufacturers themselves once there is a mandate to get EVs on roads....