FICCI pushes for inclusion of battery swapping scheme under FAME-II

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) has recommended inclusion of the battery swapping model of charging under the FAME-II scheme, to encourage the use of electric vehicles in the two and three-wheeler categories.

FAME is known as the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles scheme, developed by the Department of Heavy Industry.

In the battery swapping model, a depleted lithium-ion battery is replaced with a fully charged one at a swapping station. This would reduce the time to charge electric vehicles (EVs) which generally takes a few hours.

In a recent letter to the Department, FICCI urged for clarity on the support for new models. "Current guidelines of the Scheme are not very clear about support for such models. Hence, the need for clarification,” a statement read.

The FAME-II policy was announced in March 2019 with an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore for three years until 2022 to boost electric mobility in the country.

The federation has submitted a detailed position paper jointly with feedback consulting on battery swapping to the government which outlined various business models followed internationally.

Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had earlier criticised NITI Aayog's battery swapping policy as 'inappropriate for the country'.

According to a report, several new entrants in the segment such as Sun Mobility and Exicom Power Solutions have set up a network of battery swapping stations to boost the EV market. It remains to be seen whether the government revises the FAME-II scheme to include the model.