Budget 2022: Battery Swapping Policy Announced To Encourage Adoption Of EVs

Electric vehicles sector in India has been showing a double digit growth year-on-year.

Electric Vehicle | Representative Photo: Getty Images

New Delhi: The Electric Vehicle (EV) industry has witnessed tremendous growth in the last few years. The announcement made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget presented in the Parliament on Tuesday could further embolden the growth story of the EV sector.

According to an estimate, Electric vehicles, constitute about 1 per cent of the overall automotive industry in India, which has been showing a double-digit growth year-on-year. And to tap this growth, the finance minister announced battery swapping policy which will encourage companies to increase investment in this sector.

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"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 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam in her budget speech.

Speaking further Sitharam said that the step has been taken to encourage the use of electric vehicles, attract investment and achieve the decarbonisation goal set by her government.

The battery swapping policy will also help benefit public transport and goods transport as it will pull down the running cost to a great extent.

What Is Battery Swapping Policy

Battery swapping policy will help users of electric vehicles to replace their depleted batteries with fully-charged ones at dedicated stations. This process will reduce the charging time, which usually takes hours, to just a few minutes. This method will also appeal to the people using conventional vehicle as it can be compared to filling up the fuel tank of a car due to minimal time consumption.