Cabinet clears Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage mission for phased manufacturing of EV batteries
The government, which aims to have the country EV-ready by 2024, wants to localise EV production to become a world leader in the sustainable mobility space.
Finally, the writing's on the wall. The Union Cabinet, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has come forward with a planned electric vehicle (EV) strategy.
The government is planning to set up a National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage to bring clean and connected technologies that can usher in an era of shared and sustainable EV infrastructure in the country.
Apart from this, the government, which aims to have the country EV-ready by 2024, has introduced the Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP) to set up integrated battery Giga plants in India to supply batteries for electric vehicles.
The government has introduced the Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP) to set up integrated battery Giga plants in India
According to a startup in the EV infrastructure space: “The government wants to localise EV production, and stop being dependent on global markets for battery packs and modules.”
The government plans to have battery module and pack assembly plants ready by 2019-20, and an integrated cell manufacturing plant by 2021-22. These plants will be set up to export modules to countries that have EV programmes in the future.
Reports suggest that there are several ministries getting together for this mission, which will be chaired by the CEO of NITI Aayog, and secretaries from the energy, transport and international trade departments. There will be a total of eight ministries getting together for this project.
According to the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA), the market for energy storage would be 300 GWh by 2018-25. Electric vehicle companies such as Magenta, Strom, Sun Mobility, Ather, Tork, and Ultraviolette are going to benefit from this as they are betting big on Lithium Ion batteries.
“Battery technology is going to be all pervasive in the next five years because costs are dropping. This will also drop because of solar energy stored in the batteries,” says Maxson Lewis, Founder of Magenta Power.
With this Mission, India can compete with countries such as Europe, the USA, and China to be self-sufficient in transportation technology.