While presenting the Union Budget 2022, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the national government will focus on promoting cleaner mobility via the implementation of many programmes. The Indian government would implement a battery swapping policy, according to the FM, in order to stimulate the sale of electric vehicles in the country. The government will also develop interoperability standards to boost the efficiency of the electric vehicle industry.
The approach will accelerate the development of battery swapping centers, where EV owners may recharge their vehicles by exchanging out depleted batteries for fully charged ones. This will also reduce the amount of time it takes to charge the integrated batteries in electric vehicles. Currently, the country has only a few such alternatives, and EV owners must spend hours charging their vehicles at charging stations, particularly in cities.
In addition, the government will endeavor to extend India’s charging network to aid in the transition from gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles to electric vehicles. The Finance Minister also stated that the government will focus on increasing public transportation in the country, with clean technology, governance solutions, and special mobility zones with a zero-fossil-fuel policy complementing this programme.
Sohinder Gill, Director General of the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV), welcomed the budget, saying it intends to enhance the whole ecosystem of the EV sector, which would boost demand for green vehicles such as E2W, E3W, automobiles, and buses. He also stated that these announcements will contribute in the development of electric vehicle infrastructure and the increased usage of electric vehicles in public transit. It would encourage delivery and automobile aggregation companies to add electric vehicles to their fleets.
