NITI Aayog, the government think tank has released a draft for the battery swapping policy. The policy mentioned that the swapping comes under the broader umbrella of Battery as a Service (BaaS), where customers can purchase an electric vehicle without the battery. This reduces the upfront cost with minimal downtime, and lower space requirements. Also, it allows any individual or entity to set up the swapping station at any location provided that technical safety and standards are followed.

The policy also proposed that the target vehicle segments for battery swapping include electric two- and three-wheelers, which are heavily concentrated in urban areas. The rollout of battery swapping stations will therefore be in a phased manner. In Phase 1 - all metropolitan cities with a population greater than 4 million will be prioritised for development of battery swapping networks and in Phase 2 all major cities such as state capitals, UT headquarters and cities with population greater than 5 lakh will be considered. 

“Also, any central and state government agencies involved in implementation of battery swapping networks may consider this prioritization when providing additional policy support and/or subsidy allocations for battery swapping networks,” the policy mentioned.

Earlier this year, during the Union Budget Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced plans to introduce a Battery Swapping Policy and interoperability standards, with the intent of building and improving the efficiency of the battery swapping ecosystem.

“The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), the Central Nodal Agency responsible for the rollout of EV public charging infrastructure, will be responsible for the implementation of battery swapping networks across the country. States and union territories (UTs) are responsible for the implementation and governance of the battery swapping ecosystem. Appointed state nodal agencies (SNAs) for EV public charging infrastructure will facilitate the rollout of battery swapping,” the policy added.

According to NITI Aayog, this draft policy available for consultation and it is inviting comments on it till June 5.