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NEW DELHI: As part of strategy to transition to green energy, the Union government will introduce a 'Battery Swapping Policy' to promote the use of electric vehicles (EVs) and also achieve goals on carbon emissions, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced while presenting the Union Budget 2022-23.
She said that this was being done to promote a shift to the use of public transport in urban areas wherein special mobility zones with zero fossil fuel policy will be introduced. This will also take care of space constraints in urban areas.
Mint had reported last month that the Union Budget will likely announce incentives for setting up battery swapping infrastructure for electric vehicles.
“On expected lines, the Budget has given a significant impetus to EV and batteries by incentivising private sector and promoting battery swapping will go a long way. Battery as a Service coupled with battery swapping will facilitate adoption of EVs" said Somesh Kumar, partner and leader, power and utilities, EY India.
In what may help burnish India’s green energy credentials, the Union government is also exploring a plan wherein all central government ministries and their field offices would migrate to electric vehicles (EVs) over the next three years, as reported by Mint earlier.
This comes in the backdrop of India’s announcement to cut net carbon emissions to zero by 2070 at COP26 in Glasgow and the EV prices expected to reach price parity with Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles before 2025. At the Glasgow summit, Prime Minister Modi also promised to cut India’s total projected carbon emission by 1 billion tonnes and the economy’s carbon intensity to less than 45% by 2030.
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