- 22 Apr 2022
- ICICIdirect Research
NITI AAYOG ANNOUNCES DRAFT BATTERY SWAPPING POLICY
News: Niti Aayog came out with a draft policy to specify minimum technical and operational requirements that battery swapping ecosystems would need to fulfil, to enable effective, efficient implementation of battery-swapping infrastructure. It envisaged, rollout of policy in two phases. Firstly would be for cities with population of more than 40 lakh and second phase would be for state capitals, UTs with population of more than 5 lakh. It is primarily meant for electric 2-Ws & 3-Ws.
Views: This bodes well for the sector as it specifies technical requirement such as BMS to protect battery from catching fire with further specifications to be notified in due course to support interoperability. Further, to increase EV penetration using swappable framework, it envisages fiscal support in the form of subsidy with extension of scope of existing scheme or a launch of new scheme altogether. It also promotes selling EV vehicle without batteries to make them even more affordable and at the same time takes cognizance of rationalising GST rate on Li-0n batteries (existing rate: 18%).
Impact: Positive