Transforming Trucking in India

The report outlines the economic and environmental benefits of transitioning India's trucking sector to zero-emissions vehicles (ZETs), specifically battery-electric and fuel cell electric trucks. It highlights the potential for significant reductions in logistics costs, oil expenditures, and carbon emissions, while proposing four strategic pathways—policy action, charging infrastructure deployment, technology/manufacturing localization, and innovative financing—to accelerate adoption and establish India as a low-carbon manufacturing hub.

• Transitioning to zero-emissions trucks (ZETs) offers India substantial economic gains, including a 17 percent reduction in logistics costs and cumulative oil expenditure savings of over ₹116 lakh crore ($1.5 trillion) by 2050 through the reduction of 838 billion liters of diesel.
• Despite representing only 3 percent of the total vehicle fleet, trucks are responsible for 53 percent of particulate matter (PM) emissions and 34 percent of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in India. Widespread ZET adoption could save up to 3.8 gigatons of cumulative CO2 by 2050.
• Zero-emissions trucks can currently achieve total cost of ownership (TCO) parity with diesel trucks for medium-duty applications, with parity for heavy-duty applications expected by 2027.
• To support the ZET transition, India requires a combination of demand- and supply-side policies, the deployment of both private depot and public en-route charging infrastructure, and the localization of the ZET supply chain. By 2050, ZETs could generate a cumulative battery demand of 4,000 GWh in India.

APA

RMI (2022). Transforming Trucking in India. https://rmi.org/resources/transforming-trucking-in-india-2/

Chicago

RMI. Transforming Trucking in India. 2022. https://rmi.org/resources/transforming-trucking-in-india-2/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Transforming Trucking in India |date=4 November 2022 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/transforming-trucking-in-india-2/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2022transforming, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Transforming Trucking in India}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2022}, month = nov, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/transforming-trucking-in-india-2/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }