Budget 2022: Push to green fuel! FM to introduce new EV battery swapping policy

Budget 2022: FM Nirmala Sitharaman presented budget 2022 today. In the budget 2022, one of the major 4 pillars was climate action, a broad push that includes everything from energy to mobility. The Finance Minister said that in view of the lack of space in the cities, the government would focus on promoting the battery swapping facility. For this, the government will come up with a battery swapping policy. 

To promote a shift to the use of public transport in urban areas. Special mobility zones with zero fossil fuel policy to be introduced. Considering space constraints in urban areas, a 'Battery Swapping Policy' will be brought in," said the Finance Minister while presenting this year's Budget.

The new policy is an attempt to encourage the usage of electric vehicles, part of a larger plan to achieve the subcontinent's decarbonisation goals.

Also, the interoperability will set the standard. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government would ensure the role of the private sector in promoting charging infrastructure. 

The development of indigenous capabilities will help the economy in the long run

Samrath Kochar, CEO & Founder of Trontek, commenting on the announcement of a new battery swapping policy, said, "The announcement towards promoting domestic manufacturing and supporting the development of indigenous capabilities will help the economy in the long run."

"The Budget also amply provides towards promoting the adoption of clean energy and electric vehicles. The battery swapping policy with interoperability will be boost the 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," Kochar added.

"Clean mobility has seen increased deployment by passenger mobility in rural and commercial mobility in urban areas. The focus of passenger-utility vehicles in urban areas and zero fossil fuel policy will further leapfrog the growth of clean mobility in the country," Kochar further explained.

To promote manufacturing in the country, the focus of the government on the auto sector remains. For this, the government has already announced PLI Schemes. 

In order to reduce the import bill of petrol and diesel in the country, the government has set a big target for electric vehicles. The government is working towards the goal of making the country fully electric by 2030. In order to adopt electric vehicles more and more people, the government also gives huge subsidies on the purchase of EVs under FAME-II.

Government's focus towards energy transition and climate action

Rajat Verma, CEO & Co-Founder at Lohum, said, "The Government's focus towards energy transition and climate action bring in the much desired policy-push towards achieving the country's net-zero goals and circular economy."

"The new tech development in batteries will go a long way in decreasing the dependence on the imported battery tech and help domestic firms overcome the global supply-chain and geopolitical issues," Verma explained.
"We are observing a spurt in growth of EV OEMs and the interoperability policy will help the overall sector through standardization and optimal uses of the scarce resources through battery-swapping," he further added.

Chargers and swapping stations will have a two-pronged impact

Chandresh Sethia, Co-Founder at EVRE said, "We expect that the incremental focus on chargers and swapping stations will have a two-pronged impact. On one hand it will help the OEMs with the long-term vision for the sector and enhance investments in the sector; on the other it will help EV users overcome the range-anxiety and instil confidence in comparison to ICE vehicles."