Transforming trucking in India: pathways to zero-emission truck deployment

India’s trucking market is expected to grow over 4x by 2050 fueling the nation’s economy and transportation emissions. India is the world’s sixth largest economy, with a GDP close to US$3 trillion and growing. The freight transportation sector is growing rapidly to ensure more goods and products reach a rising number of end consumers. Currently, India transports ~4.6 billion tonnes of freight annually, generating transport demand of 2.2 trillion tonne-kilometres (tonne-km) at the cost of ₹9.5 lakh crore.2 Demand for goods is rising with urbanisation, population increase, the rise of e-commerce, and rising income levels. As this demand continues to grow, associated road freight movement is expected to increase to 9.6 trillion tonne-km by 2050. Road transport (i.e., trucks) carries the bulk of India’s goods, 70% of today’s domestic freight demand. Heavy- and medium-duty trucks (HDTs and MDTs, respectively) are responsible for most of that road transportation. And as road freight travel continues to grow, the number of trucks is expected to more than quadruple, from 4 million in 2022 to roughly 17 million trucks by 2050. In light of these market trends, zero-emissions trucks (ZETs) including battery electric trucks (BETs) and fuel cell electric trucks (FCETs) offer a compelling alternative to the diesel trucks that dominate India’s road freight today. ZETs do not have tailpipe emissions and have lower operating costs, presenting an opportunity for India to showcase how the adoption of ZETs is economically efficient and better for air quality, public health, and environment.