EV stakeholders deliberate on development of battery charging and swapping infrastructure
New Delhi: Various stakeholders from the electric vehicle (EV) sector on Friday held deliberations with commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal here on various issues, including development of battery charging and swapping infrastructure. Officials from department of heavy industries, department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) and auto majors including Tata, TVS and Mercedes-Benz India among others also participated in the meeting.
In a bid to woo global EV makers into the country, in March last year the government rolled out an electric vehicle policy, under which duty concessions were offered to companies setting up manufacturing units in the country with a minimum investment of $500 million. “The interaction was on development of battery charging, swapping infrastructure and standards,” both the government and auto sector officials said.
In April last year, a stakeholder consultation meeting was held, where representatives of all the major manufacturers in India including Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata, Mahindra, Kia, Skoda Auto Volkswagen India, Renault were present. Besides, an advisor representing electric car maker Tesla and representatives of luxury car makers Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, had also attended the meet.
The fast-growing EV market in India is catching the eyes of global players. India's electric vehicles market is expected to grow to one crore units in annual sales by 2030 and create five crore direct and indirect jobs, according to the Economic Survey 2022-23. As per industry estimates, the total EV sales in India stood at around 10 lakh units in 2022.
In India, Tata Motors is the leading player in passenger electric vehicles. The company's current EV portfolio comprises Nexon EV range, Tiago EV and Tigor EV. The government has plans to install 10,763 public charging stations across the country under the FAME-II scheme.
