Varun Goenka, CEO and Co-Founder, Charge up, said, “One of the most pressing needs of the day is to establish a network of battery charging and swapping stations across India that can eliminate the range anxiety and encourage people to adopt EVs with greater confidence. The government’s announcement to encourage private sector players to develop sustainable and innovative business models in this arena is a welcome move. Further, the support for interoperability would lead to battery standardization. We had been anticipating the push towards public transit usage by establishing more EV exclusive zones wherein private or non-electric vehicles will be barred. Holistically, the various measures announced are highly encouraging for the EV sector as well as the overall environmental sustainability, and this seems to be a budget that focuses on the right areas.”
Mr. Mridu Mahendra Das, Co-founder and CEO, Automovill, said, “The Budget just refuelled the ongoing initiative with the announcement of battery swapping policy and charging stations set up a plan. The battery swapping policy will enable the adoption of battery as a service. This is also expected to reduce the running cost of the vehicle. With the increasing adoption of EVs, simultaneously strengthening the support infrastructure is needed. Like new-age auto tech -service startups are upskilling and reskilling internally to support the maintenance end. We have already launched India’s first learning management system for bridging the gap between skilled semi-skilled workforce across the country in line with government vision.
However, any mismatch in manufacturing and post-sales requirements like charging infrastructure absence would have taken away the steam of the ultimate aim of eMobility mission. Not just auto manufacturers, even auto service players will benefit from this budget.”
Mr. Shubhankar Chaudhry, the CEO of One Moto India, said, “Almost all the auto giants in India have stepped into EV manufacturing further to the launch of the e-mobility mission. Several startups have also launched electric vehicles to leverage the shifting focus towards EVs over ICE. However, creating a balance between supply and adoption was a long-stalling challenge for every player. Imagine when the consumer is ready to buy an EV but hesitant due to the absence of charging infrastructure. This could not have been achieved without ample government support to create the proper infrastructure and fuel the adoption at consumers’ end. State governments have been launching policies and subsidies to accelerate the adoption at their end.
With the Budget announcement of battery swapping policy and charging stations at a scale, we hope that we will soon have a robust system to support the increasing adoption of EVs on the road.
As the Budget rightly mentioned, Make In India shall create 6 million New Jobs, and all of us in the industry are dedicated to accomplishing the same.
We welcome this move by the central govt to achieve the “panchamrit” vision of the Hon’ble Prime minister.”
Mr. Anshul Gupta, Director, Okaya Power Pvt Limited, said, “We welcome Union Budget 2022-23 for its focus on the growth of renewable energy and especially the electric mobility through the announcement of the battery swapping policy that will surely boost the EV adoption in the country. All these initiatives are in sync with the government’s endeavour to encourage the use of electric vehicles in both personal and commercial segments to realise the vision of making India a 100 per cent e-vehicle nation by 2030.”
Mr. Deepan Garg, Director, Ruchira Green Earth, said, “Union Budget 2022-23 has given the much-needed boost to EV industry with the upcoming policy on battery swapping. The policy will help drive the wide-scale adoption of EV batteries while also reducing the upfront ownership cost of EVs. The government’s intention to develop special mobility zones for electric vehicles is another encouraging move for the industry. Moreover, the creation of Zero-emission zones in the cities will further help drive demand for electric vehicles and EV batteries.”
Mr. Sagar Joshi, Founder AUTO I CARE, said, “The Union Budget 2022 looks positive for the start-up ecosystem. Extending the eligibility to March 31, 2023, which is an additional year for the startups, is likely to help young startups like us meet our working capital requirements, especially during the crucial initial years of the operations.
AUTO I CARE is working with an aggregator model by tying up with over 55000 local mechanics and vendors from across the country. We have been working at the grass-root level by providing upskilling and job opportunities for vehicle mechanics on Indian highways. I believe under Sunrise Opportunities, as mentioned in Budget 2022, R & D with Government Contribution will be beneficial towards creating more robust infrastructure, and we can present an updated mobile application useful for the travellers on Indian roads.”
Mr. Shreyas Shibulal, Founder and Director, Micelio, said, “The Finance Minister has heard our requests and announced specific EV policies in the 2022 Budget that will transform the EV sector in India, especially the charging infrastructure. The announcement of the much-awaited battery swapping policy will provide charging solutions to those with space shortages while the to-be-formulated interoperability standards will provide certainty to EV manufacturers and investors looking to build charging stations. With the introduction of special mobility zones with zero fossil fuels as well, the 2022 Budget looks like it will be a game-changer for the Indian EV ecosystem”
