The battery swapping policy is now in its final stages and will be announced soon. This will reduce the cost of electric two-wheelers compared to the cost of fossil fuel two-wheelers and would be a turning point in the e-mobility sector, said NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar, speaking at the Pune Alternate Fuel Conclave.
“The most important feature I want to point out is NITI Aayog’s initiative of battery swapping policy. This is now in its final stages. It will be announced soon. As soon as it is announced, the total cost of electric two-wheelers will become lower than the cost of fossil fuel two-wheelers. That will be when we see a tipping point (towards electric two-wheelers),” he said.
Kumar added that the government of India has announced various schemes to bring down prices of electric vehicles and will roll out schemes amounting to $7.4 billion over the next ten years.
“States like Maharashtra are on the front seat. 26 States have announced EV policies and 18 of them have notified it,” he said.
‘Seize opportunity’
Kumar commended steps taken by the Maharashtra government to promote EVs, and said that electric mobility and alternate fuels are one of the biggest opportunities in the country.
“This is time for India to seize the opportunity with both hands. In the past, we have not been able to do so. These (e-mobility and alternate fuels) will become major drivers of our growth and employment generation. In Niti Aayog, we believe that the fundamental mantra for seizing this opportunity is bringing together of the government, industry, academia and civil society on the same platform, serving the same national interest” said Kumar.
He added that the guiding factor is to build trust among all stakeholders to achieve targets.
“India does not have the luxury to grow today and retrofit tomorrow as all other countries have done. We will have to accelerate our growth and take care of our environment as well. We have to be green and growing, and develop our own model of development” he said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and other Ministers also addressed the conference.