EV Ecosystem Welcomes Budget, Calls for Lower GST

Kolkata, Feb 1 (PTI) Stakeholders in the electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem hailed the interim budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, asserting that it focuses on manufacturing and charging infrastructure.

RACE Energy Co-founder Arun Sreyas said as the battery swapping market is highly dependent on the lithium-ion variety, GST parity on swappable batteries is the need of the hour.

It is expected that the issue will be addressed when the full budget will be presented later this year.

He also appreciated the budget's focus on supporting manufacturing and charging infrastructure.

Charging station firm ElectricPe co-founder and CEO Avinash Sharma said the budget has supported the expected strong growth of the EV sector.

He said that changes in the GST rates for EV charging need to be made for the sector to witness unhindered growth.

It is expected that the lowering of GST rates for charging will make EVs more affordable for adoption, he said.

EV charging company ChargeUp co-founder and CEO Varun Goenka said the government's positive strides in the interim budget are welcome. However, challenging issues like high GST rates and lack of affordable financing for the critical EV infrastructure need an examination, he added.