The Union Budget for 2022-23 aims at strengthening the whole ecosystem of the EV industry, which will spur the demand for green vehicles, the EV industry said on Tuesday. It also said that the introduction of battery swapping policy and interoperability standards announced in the Budget will go a long way in building the use cases and will be a big booster for the startups in the EV space.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday announced that the government will bring a battery swapping policy to boost use of EVS in the country in view of space constraints for setting up charging stations and interoperability standards will be formulated.
“Introducing the battery swapping policy and recognizing battery or energy as a service will help develop EV infrastructure and increase the use of EVs in public transportation. It would motivate businesses engaged in delivery and car aggregation businesses to incorporate EVs into their fleet,” said Sohinder. Gill, Director General, Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles.
It will create new avenues for companies to venture into the business of battery swapping, he said, adding, additionally, creating special clean zones will further accelerate the adoption of EVs and spread awareness amongst the citizens. “The Union Budget 2022 did show its intent on promoting cleaner mobility. The introduction of battery swapping policy and interoperability standards will go a long way in building the use cases,” said Maxwell Lewis, Director CEO at Magenta.
The Finance Minister said that the private sector will be encouraged to develop sustainable and innovative business models for battery and energy as a service is a great boost to co-develop the battery swapping and EV charging ecosystem, according to him. What was missed was an explicit statement of the extension of the FAME scheme and how it can support the expansion of the charging network in India to help facilitate the switch from petrol and diesel-based vehicles to EVs, he added.
Openness to accommodate new age business models like battery swapping are a welcome step, financial decoupling of batteries irrespective of swapping will enable faster adoption. It would be exciting to see some great climate focussed debt lines coming in from blended finance. Bringing EVs and batteries into the priority lending sector was also expected but missed in this budget, said Dr. Akshay Singhal, Founder, Log9 Materials.
Samrath Kochar, CEO and Founder of Trontek, India’s largest Li-ion battery manufacturer, said the battery swapping policy with interoperability will boost adoption of EVs as it will help allay the range anxiety and bring the EVs at par with ICE vehicles in terms of time. taken for replenishment of fuel.
The announcement on battery policy is well aligned to this focus and will definitely provide a big boost to the deployment of electrical mobility in the country. This will also boost the deployment of battery-led energy storage systems for complementing the green energy generation and decentralization. of energy distribution, “said Rajat Verma, Co-founder-CEO at Lohum.
Further, the new tech development in batteries will go a long way in decreasing the dependence on imported battery tech and help domestic firms overcome the global supply-chain and geopolitical issues, he said.
According to Sachidanand Upadhyay, Founder, Lord’s Mark Industries, the formulation of effective interoperability standards is key to leveraging the capabilities of various constituents of the EV ecosystem and creating battery manufacturers and making them core participants in a seamless and optimally functioning charging infrastructure.
Such industry-friendly measures will accelerate the initiative to move towards cleaner energy and environment-friendly transportation and boost India’s rise as a global production hub for EVs, positioning it as one of the largest markets for electric mobility in the world, he said. Rajeev Singh, Partner and Automotive leader, Deloitte, said battery swapping policy including interoperability could be a big booster for all the start ups already working in this space.
It could also help drive movement to electrification of fleets especially for last mile connectivity for both people & goods, he added. “The government continues to provide increasing use of clean energy and EVs. Public transport would increasingly have a higher usage of EVs. Further, a policy for battery swapping will be developed which will ensure standardization and enhance charging infrastructure,” said Suman Chowdhury, Chief. Analytical Officer at Acuit Ratings & Research.
Naveen Munjal, MD at Hero Electric, said, commencement of battery swapping and battery standardization process will open up avenues for further growth and development of the EV and energy sector in the country. “Overall, we believe that we are steering forward in our commitment to create an emission free country,” he said. Sulajja Firodia Motwani, Founder and CEO, Kinetic Green, said, the emphasis in the budget on private sector participation to develop sustainable and innovative models for battery and energy as a service will increase efficiency in the EV ecosystem.
“I am confident that this move will encourage manufacturers to enhance investments in this sector. Further announcements such as ramp up capital expenditure and spending on infrastructure will boost economic growth,” she added. Uday Narang, Founder and Chairman, Omega Seiki Mobility said that According to Suhas Rajkumar, Founder-CEO, Simple Energy, although battery as a service can be implemented for certain areas only, encouraging the private sector to create. sustainable business models is a welcome move “.
Vivekananda Hallekere, CEO & Co-Founder, Bounce, said, “Government and policymakers have recognized battery swapping as the most effective solution to accelerate EV adoption in India by addressing range anxiety and hesitancy in adoption as well as considering the pragmatic aspects of setting up. charging infrastructure – for instance, space constraints in urban areas for dedicated charging stations. ”
“With collective efforts from the government and private players, we are confident in realizing the nation’s vision of converting all vehicles in India to electric vehicles by 2030,” said Jeetender Sharma, Founder-MD. Yatin Gupte, Chairman & Managing Director, Wardwizard Innovations & Mobility Ltd said with the infra boost and changes in corporate taxes, the industry is optimistic that this budget will augur well for the economic recovery and overall growth for the country. ”
According to Nishchal Chaudhary, founder of BattRE Electric Mobility, Implementation of battery swapping policy for EVs is a positive step towards increasing EV penetration. This will help in reducing the upfront cost of EVs by up to 40 per cent.
