Good morning [%first_name |Dear Reader%],

This week’s edition is about non-news. I mean, it is about the stuff making the headlines. But honestly, they really shouldn’t be. And all this drama is creating an unnecessary PR nightmare for the government. 

In case you missed it, every few days now, there’s a newspaper article saying electric two-wheeler sales are slowing down. They also say a bunch of manufacturers—17 out of the 64 listed on the government’s site as receiving subsidies for EVs—are finding it hard to meet their working capital needs because the government has stopped subsidy payments of ~Rs 1,100 crore (US$133.2 million) to them.

The lone voice in these articles is often Sohinder Gill, CEO of EV maker Hero Electric and the director general of the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV). It’s surprising to me that the industry association of a sunrise sector like EVs does not have an independent office bearer. 

But that aside, Gill says at the current rate of slowdown—distinctly visible in December and January—the government will miss its target of supporting 1 million electric two-wheelers by the end of this financial year ending March 31.