Taiwan's Gogoro to invest $1.5 bn for smart battery infra in India

Gogoro, a Taiwan-based battery swapping service provider and two-wheeler manufacturer, will be investing $1.5 billion for setting up smart battery infrastructure in Pune and Aurangabad over the next eight years, the company said in a statement. The Nasdaq-listed company has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Maharashtra, to manufacture electric vehicles, smart battery packs and battery swap stations, and to deploy battery swapping infrastructure in the state beginning late 2023.

"Building on Gogoro's successful deployment of an open battery swapping network that supports multiple vehicle makers in Taiwan, we plan to proceed in partnership with the Maharashtra government to bring Gogoro vehicles, smart batteries and swap stations in India starting with the state of Maharashtra. We are focused on creating a domestic supplier ecosystem that allows for domestic growth and foreign market expansion," said Horace Luke, founder and CEO, Gogoro.

As part of the proposed project, the government of Maharashtra will be providing financial assistance and support to the company. The proposed ‘ultra mega project’ is expected to generate approximately 10,000 direct and indirect jobs.

"We are creating a smart battery ecosystem with Gogoro, a leader in sustainable vehicles and electric fuel technologies. As part of the project, Gogoro will establish its India vehicle, smart battery and battery swapping station manufacturing in Maharashtra and deploy their industry-leading smart battery infrastructure in the state, generating approximately 10,000 direct and indirect jobs," said Eknath Shinde, chief minister, Maharashtra.

Through the project, Gogoro plans to contribute to smart city design and development, energy storage stations and systems, smart mobility sharing, smart electric vehicles, demand response services and distributed energy storage among other applications in the state, according to Gogoro.

"The EV revolution is gripping the world and our state is not far behind in its early adoption. With this project we anticipate creating a fertile ecosystem for local manufacturers who will avail the necessary tech transfer and help create world-class products for our citizens," said Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister, Maharashtra.

Gogoro entered the Indian market in April this year by launching four battery-swapping stations and a smart-scooter pilot in Delhi-NCR for last-mile delivery by partnering with Zypp Electric. The company claims to have more than 1.1 million batteries in circulation globally through its network of 12,000 battery-swapping stations at more than 2,500 locations. The company provides 6-second swap and Go battery swapping for electric two-wheelers as part of its product offerings. 

The development comes at a time when the government has been pushing towards smart battery-swapping infrastructure in the country. Over the past several months, the government has sought comments from stakeholders for the proposed national battery-swapping policy. According to Niti Aayog, battery swapping is an alternative that involves exchanging discharged batteries for charged ones. Battery swapping de-links the vehicle and fuel and thereby leads to a reduction in the upfront cost of the vehicles.