India’s electric vehicle sector is projected to create 30 to 40 million jobs by 2030, with hiring expected to grow 15 to 20% year on year, according to a report by talent solutions firm Adecco India. The report is based on insights from over 100 companies in the firm’s base.
Of the projected jobs, 10 to 15% are expected to be direct roles and 85 to 90% indirect, spread across the value chain. The report framed the next decade as one defined less by assembly-line work and more by specialised engineering, energy systems, and battery technologies. India currently contributes 4% to the global EV passenger car segment and holds a 17% share in the two-wheeler segment.
Manufacturing is set to remain the biggest employment driver, accounting for 50 to 55% of demand across hubs such as Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Telangana, and the NCR. The report noted that nearly 70% of fresh hiring is likely to come from outside these traditional clusters, moving into tier-II and tier-III corridors like Hosur and Sanand.
“India currently contributes 4% to the global EV industry in the passenger car segment and holds 17% market share in the 2-wheeler segment, but its long-term opportunity lies in capturing a far greater share of the global value chain. With states now operationalising execution-stage EV policies, including Delhi’s Rs 7,000-crore EV Policy 2026 and subsidy portal, India’s EV story is shifting from incentive-driven adoption to industrial-scale hiring,” said Deepesh Gupta, Director and Head of General Staffing, Adecco India.
India’s EV adoption has climbed to 8.5% of total automotive sales. The report identified battery recycling and circular manufacturing as one of the fastest-growing job-creation spaces, with battery waste projected to reach 1.5 to 2 million tonnes annually by 2030 and the recycling market having grown at a compound annual rate of 55% between FY2022 and FY2026, per pv magazine India.
Gupta added that competitiveness in the global EV economy would be shaped as much by the quality of India’s talent pipeline as by its manufacturing capacity, and that growth backed by the Make in India initiative would support energy security and open opportunities across tier-II and tier-III regions.
