Battery swapping
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has proposed the formulation of a battery swapping policy for EV charging stations. She also announced the introduction of modern building by-laws. The minister said the government would also promote the use of public transport in urban areas.
“Considering the constraint space in urban areas for setting up (electric vehicles) charging stations, a battery swapping policy will be brought out and interoperability standards will be formulated,” Sitharaman said in her Budget speech in the Lok Sabha.
She stated that the private sector will be encouraged to set up sustainable business models for battery or energy service and this will improve efficiency in the EV (electric vehicle) ecosystem.
Paperless e-bills
“We will promote a shift to use public transport in urban areas. This will be complemented by clean tech and governance solutions, special mobility zones with zero fossil fuel policy and EV vehicles,” she stated. A completely paperless e-bill system will also be launched by the ministries for procurement, Sitharaman said.
She said that to promote ease of doing business, as many as 75,000 compliances have been eliminated and 1,486 union laws have been repealed. Further, she announced that five existing academic institutions for urban planning will be designated as ‘Centre for Excellence’ with an endowment fund of Rs 250 crore.
