After opening the day on a positive note, Indian share markets have continued the momentum and are currently trading in green. All sectoral indices are trading on a positive note, with stocks in the capital goods sector and stocks in the auto sector witnessing maximum buying interest.

The BSE Sensex is trading up 205 points (up 0.6%) and the NSE Nifty is trading up 72 points (up 0.7%). Meanwhile, the BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 1%, while the BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.9%. The rupee is trading at 64.52 to the US$.

In news from stocks in the automobile sector. Tata Motors on Wednesday rolled out the first batch of Tigor Electric Vehicles (EVs), which would be supplied to Energy Efficiency Services Ltd. (EESL) as part of a plan to equip the government with EVs to curb emissions.

EESL gave out a contract in September to Tata Motors Ltd and Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, kicking off India's electric vehicle procurement programme.

These vehicles will be used to replace petrol and diesel cars used by the government and its agencies, which have around half-a-million cars, of which about a third are leased.

Mahindra lost out to rival Tata Motors Ltd in a government contract for 500 electric vehicles but later said it would match the lowest bid of Rs 1 million per vehicle made by Tata Motors as it wanted to be part of the government's electric mobility mission.

For phase 1, Tata Motors is required to deliver 250 Tigor EVs. It is expected to supply an additional 100 cars to EESL shortly.

Currently, electric vehicle sales are low in India, rising 37.5% to 22,000 units in the year ended 31 March 2016 from 16,000 in 2014-15. Only 2,000 of these were cars and other four-wheelers, according to automobile lobby groupSociety of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam).

The government wants to see 6 million electric and hybrid vehicles on Indian roads by 2020 under the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020.

Is India Prepared to Meet the Ambitious Battery Car Target?

(Click on image to enlarge)

The government is targeting to have all cars propelled by electric engine by 2030. The target is more daunting than in many advanced countries.

According to the industry, the 2030 target would require eight to ten times the global stock of such vehicles. India would need to sell more than 10 million electric cars in 2030, compared to 5,000 electric vehicles India had on the road in 2016.

As you can see from the chart above, India is barely visible compared to other developed countries when it comes to battery cars.

As an article in Business Standard suggests, such a big jump in scale for the auto industry in 13 years seems difficult. The basic infrastructure is missing. There are not enough charging stations. For this massive shift, the charging stations will need to be as ubiquitous as petrol pumps.

Another issue is the price of the lithium ion battery, which constitutes 30% to 40% of the cost of the car. For this plan to succeed, the price of the battery needs to come down.

The auto industry is already facing regulatory headwinds. The shift from BS-IV emission norms to BS-VI has been two years ahead of schedule without an intermediate stage. The government, if it is serious about such ambitious targets, should offer the necessary infrastructure support and do its bit for a smooth transition.

At the time of writing, Tata Motors share price was trading up by 1.5%.

Moving on to news from stocks in the capital goods sector. Larsen & Toubro (L&T) share price is in focus today after the company's wholly owned subsidiary bagged an order worth Rs 16 billion.

L&T said that its wholly owned subsidiary, L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering Ltd, won an order worth Rs 16 billion from Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL).

The company said that the project is a part of HPCL Visakh Refinery modernization project and involves engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of 3.05 MMTPA full conversion hydrocracker project.

L&T has in the onshore hydrocarbon sector since early 1990s, both in India and outside India.The order reinforces L&T's capability to deliver 'design to build' engineering and construction solutions across the hydrocarbon spectrum.

The hydrocarbon segment contributed to ~9% of the consolidated revenue of the L&T group in FY17. The company has a total order book of Rs 2575 billion as on September 30, 2017. Order book under hydrocarbon segment constituted 10% of the total order book as on September 30, 2017.

At the time of writing, L&T share price was trading up by 2%.