India's EV Push Could Create Millions of Jobs, But Batteries Are the Bottleneck

India's electric vehicle push could unlock millions of jobs, according to a report by NDTV. The catch: batteries. The country's ability to make its own battery cells, not just assemble vehicles, will decide how many of those jobs actually materialise.

The report, published on September 10, 2026, points to a simple reality. EVs have fewer moving parts than petrol or diesel cars. That means fewer jobs in engine and transmission manufacturing. But the shift creates demand for new skills: battery cell production, battery management systems, charging infrastructure, and software.

NDTV's headline is blunt: "Batteries Hold The Key." That's not a throwaway line. India currently imports most of its lithium-ion cells from China, South Korea, and Japan. Every cell imported is a job that doesn't get created here.

The jobs math

The report doesn't offer a single number for how many jobs are at stake. It says "millions." That's vague, but it reflects the range of estimates floating around the sector. Some industry bodies have projected that the EV ecosystem could employ tens of millions by 2030 if local manufacturing scales. Others are more cautious.

What's clear is the direction. Internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles have long supply chains built around engines, exhaust systems, and fuel injection. EVs strip much of that out. The new supply chain runs through mines, refineries, cell factories, and charging networks.

India has started building that chain. The government's production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for advanced chemistry cell (ACC) batteries is meant to draw investment. Several companies have won bids to set up gigafactories. But progress has been slow. Most plants are still in early stages.

Lessons from the transition

CleanTechnica, in a separate piece, looked at lessons from India's EV transition. One takeaway: policy stability matters. Sudden changes in subsidies or import duties can stall investment. Another: charging infrastructure in smaller cities and rural areas lags far behind metros.

ET Auto, in a World EV Day special, said India's EV market is entering its next growth phase. But it added that "the hard work begins now." That work includes skilling workers for battery manufacturing, securing raw materials like lithium and cobalt, and building recycling capacity.

The jobs won't appear automatically. They'll come from factories that don't exist yet, run by workers who haven't been trained yet, using materials that are still mostly imported.

What's at stake

India's transport sector employs millions. A shift to EVs will displace some of those jobs and create others. The net effect depends on where the manufacturing happens. If India only assembles EVs from imported kits, the job gains will be modest. If it builds cells, packs, and components domestically, the gains could be much larger.

The NDTV report doesn't sugarcoat the challenge. It notes that battery costs remain high, charging networks are patchy, and consumer range anxiety persists. Those are real barriers. But the report's core message is that the job potential is real, provided the battery supply chain gets built at home.

For now, the numbers are projections. The factories are blueprints. The workers are still waiting for training. The next few years will show whether India can turn the EV push into a manufacturing base, or just another market for imported technology.