NITI Aayog likely to roll out 'Battery Swapping Policy' by December

Government think tank NITI Aayog is likely to roll out a 'Battery Swapping Policy' by December this year, a senior government official said on Thursday.

"The Battery Swapping Policy is likely to be rolled out by December," Sudhendu Jyoti Sinha, adviser (Infrastructure Connectivity-Transport and Electric Mobility), NITI Aayog told PTI.

Sinha also said that the Aayog is working on a proposal to prod railways to set up electric vehicle charging stations at railway stations in cities whose population is more than 10 lakhs.

The policy was announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her 2022-23 Budget speech and is being prepared by NITI Aayog.

Also Read | How a two-minute battery change is revving India's shift towards e-autos

"Considering the constraint space in urban areas for setting up (electric vehicles) charging stations, a battery swapping policy will be brought out and interoperability standards will be formulated," Sitharaman had said.

She had stated that the private sector will be encouraged to set up sustainable business models for battery or energy services and this will improve efficiency in the EV (electric vehicle) ecosystem.

The policy will facilitate a faster rollout of battery swapping centres where electric vehicle (EV) owners would be able to refuel their EV by replacing exhausted batteries with charged ones.

Watch the latest DH Videos here: