As Niti Aayog's plan to phase out two- and three-wheelers' internal combustion engines is facing stiff resistance, the government think tank is planning to adopt a middle path in the matter of transition to electric vehicles. Two industry stalwarts have already spoken out against the Niti Aayog's electric vehicle transition roadmap.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Ashok Kumar Taneja, MD & CEO of Shriram Pistons and Rings, and Kavan Mukhtyar, Partner and Head - Automotive at PwC India, shared their views on the subject.

According to Taneja, the government has got bigger goals -- to control pollution and reduce dependence on foreign oil.

"We need a clear and practical roadmap. We have to take into account what is the ground reality in India with regards to availability of components for electric vehicles. We have to consider the feasibility of making investments which will enable some 20 million-odd two- and three-wheelers to shift to electric mobility in one go. We have to take a realistic view. We have many examples before us, for example we know that CNG is a less-polluting fuel than gasoline or diesel and yet because we could not create infrastructure or make availability of CNG adequate, we could not encourage users to shift to CNG. We should not end up being neither here nor there. That is why a step-by-step approach appears more practical," he observed.

Mukhtyar has pointed out localisation is the way to go. "We need to understand what impact this will have on the supply chain. It is a vicious cycle, unless you have volumes you won't be able to localise, means you are going to be import dependent, which in turn results in higher landed price. As we make these policy shifts, we should also look at their overall socio-economic impact," he opined.