EV Policy of Rajasthan will be out Soon: ED, RIICO

Electric mobility is a priority sector for RIICO and the electric vehicle (EV) policy of Rajasthan will be out soon, says Rukmani Riar, Executive Director of state-owned Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation Ltd (RIICO). 
 
Riar was speaking at the round table conference organised by CUTS International on the topic ‘Accelerating Electric Vehicle Adoption in Rajasthan’.
 
She further added that “there are plans for cluster-based development of e-mobility sector in the state, including provisions for auto-component manufacturing, battery manufacturing and swapping, electronic component manufacturing and relevant skill training facilities being set up in close proximity.”
 
Besides, Rukmani Riar also invited interested stakeholders to invest in the state and avail various benefits being offered to them. 
 
On the other hand, Rakesh Chopra, Managing Director of Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Ltd (REIL) emphasised on the need for robust charging infrastructure for enabling the adoption of EVs at the state level and highlighted REIL’s innovative initiatives towards that end, including integration of rooftop solar with EV charging stations. 
 
Speaking at the conference SP Gupta, Chief Engineer of Jaipur Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Ltd (JVVNL) reiterated that there are no challenges related to the availability of continuous power supply for EV charging stations.
 
SP Gupta was responding to industry concerns regarding the difficulty of obtaining electricity connections for charging stations and the low cap on LT connections in Rajasthan.
 
However, challenges related to electricity connections and demand charges would require necessary regulatory approvals. For easing out the regulatory processes, the Discom is willing to provide their support to the industry stakeholders in their applications to RERC, he commented. 
 
On the flip side, Dr. Shahab Ahmad, Assistant Professor, IIT Jodhpur highlighted the need for focussing on indigenisation of manufacturing supply chains, especially in the case of EV batteries, by looking for locally available alternative raw materials. 
 
Dr. Ahmad was joined by Dr. Arun Kumar Verma, Assistant Professor, MNIT Jaipur, who reiterated the potential of localisation of component manufacturing especially for electric-two-wheelers (E-2Ws) which dominated the Indian auto market. 
 
Meanwhile, B.C. Datta, Vice President – Corporate Affairs at Ola Electric concluded the discussion by emphasising that manufacturers should ‘Make in India and make for the world’. 
 
Datta added that his key expectations from Rajasthan’s EV policy include provisions for a robust charging network, effective demand incentives, a strong focus on R&D and skill training and provisions for the scrapping of ICE vehicles.
 
The other dignitaries who attended the round table conference discussion include - Rupesh K. Chawla, Deputy General Manager, REIL; Soham Kulkarni, Manufacturing and Quality Engineer, BattRE; Puneet Jain, Founder, Natural Battery Tech; Pushpendra Vishal Kaushal, Business Operations Lead, Statiq; Himanshu Saini, Manager, Magnitude Motors; and Dr. Ashish Malik, Assistant Professor, Manipal University. The discussion was moderated by Divyesh Kumar Sharma, Director, CUTS International.