Early EV adoption, lowering prices and enhancing safety on govt's agenda

NITI rolls out draft battery-swapping policy

In the midst of frequent incidents of e-vehicles catching fire, the NITI Aayog on Thursday released the much-awaited draft policy on battery-swapping for electric two- and three-wheelers.

Its highlights are lowering prices of electric vehicles (EVs); accelerating the adoption of battery-powered vehicles; addressing anomalies in goods and services tax (GST) rates with regard to batteries, EV supply equipment, and e-vehicles; and enhancing the safety and performance of advanced cell chemistry.

This comes nearly three months after the proposed policy found a mention in Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget speech. The policy is aimed at providing an impetus to India’s transition to