Government Plans Subsidy for Battery Swapping Stations to Boost Long-Distance EV Travel
New Delhi, 29th April 2025: In a major move to accelerate electric vehicle (EV) adoption, the government is planning to offer subsidies for setting up battery swapping stations across the country. The initiative aims to make long-distance travel easier for EV users by allowing quick battery exchanges instead of time-consuming charging, officials said.
Under the proposed scheme, commuters will be able to swap their depleted batteries for fully charged ones at dedicated stations by paying a service fee. Initially, the focus will be on supporting battery swapping infrastructure for electric buses, trucks, two-wheelers, and three-wheelers. Battery swapping for electric cars will be introduced later, once the required technical standards are finalized.
“The subsidy framework is being designed to encourage the creation of robust battery swapping networks, especially for commercial vehicles like buses and trucks that travel longer routes,” a senior official familiar with the discussions said. “This will significantly cut down downtime for charging and help EV operators run more efficiently.”
The matter was recently deliberated upon in a high-level meeting involving officials from the Prime Minister’s Office and relevant ministries, sources confirmed.
The push for battery swapping infrastructure comes at a time when EVs are steadily gaining ground in India. Official data shows that EVs accounted for 7.3% of all registered vehicles in 2024-25, a remarkable rise from a mere 0.01% in 2014-15. So far, over 56.8 lakh EVs have been registered nationwide, and the numbers are expected to rise sharply with sustained government incentives.
The new plan also complements an ongoing project under which 61 national highway corridors — stretching over 25,600 km — have been earmarked for the installation of public charging stations. The government’s guidelines call for setting up chargers every 100 km on highways for heavy vehicles and every 20 km for passenger cars.
Officials added that battery swapping stations could either be integrated with existing EV charging facilities or developed as independent setups. “The precise subsidy amounts and eligibility norms are being finalized,” one official said. “This strategy will particularly benefit long-haul electric trucks and buses, enabling them to meet operational needs without lengthy charging stops.”
Highway corridors identified for priority action include Delhi-Chandigarh, Delhi-Jaipur, Bengaluru-Mumbai, Coimbatore-Bengaluru, Goa-Pune, Chennai-Bengaluru, Kochi-Kanyakumari, Prayagraj-Patna, Guwahati-Jorhat, and Kharagpur-Visakhapatnam, among others.
Officials emphasized that once a battery swapping protocol for cars is established, the infrastructure would be expanded to serve private EV owners as well, further driving the transition to greener transportation.
