New Delhi, Oct 4 (KNN) A round table conference was hosted by Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS) International on ‘Accelerating Electric Vehicle Adoption in Rajasthan’.

Rukmani Riar, Executive Director, Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment (RIICO) stated that, there are plans for cluster-based development of the 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.

Electric mobility is a priority sector for RIICO and the Electric Vehicle Policy of Rajasthan will be out soon, mentioned Riar.

On behalf of RIICO she invited interested stakeholders to invest in Rajasthan and avail the various benefits being offered by them.

Rakesh Chopra, MD, Rajasthan Electronic & Instruments Limited highlighted on the need for a 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 S P Gupta, Chief Engineer, Jaipur Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Limited reiterated that there are no challenges related to availability of continuous power supply for EV charging stations.

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 was responding to industry concerns regarding difficulty of obtaining electricity connections for charging stations and the low cap on LT connections in Rajasthan.

Dr. Shahab Ahmad, Assistant Professor, IIT Jodhpur emphasised 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.

He was joined by Dr. Arun Kumar Verma, Assistant Professor, MNIT Jaipur, who reiterated the potential of localisation of component manufacturing especially for E-2Ws which dominate the Indian auto market.

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”.

He added that their 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 scrapping of ICE vehicles.

The Round Table conference was attended by Smt. Rukmini Riar, Executive Director, RIICO; Shri Rakesh Chopra, Managing Director, REIL; Shri Rupesh K. Chawla, Deputy General Manager, REIL; Shri S P Gupta, Chief Engineer, JVVNL; B C Datta, Vice President – Corporate Affairs, Ola Electric; Soham Kulkarni, Manufacturing and Quality Engineer, BattRE; Puneet Jain, Founder, Natural Battery Tech; Dr. Shahab Ahmad, Assistant Professor, IIT Jodhpur; Pushpendra Vishal Kaushal, Business Operations Lead, Statiq; Himanshu Saini, Manager, Magnitude Motors; Dr. Ashish Malik, Assistant Professor, Manipal University and Dr. Arun Kumar Verma, Assistant Professor, MNIT. The discussion was moderated by Divyesh Kumar Sharma, Director, CUTS International.