The equal stakes partnership will form an infrastructure company that owns battery swapping and EV charging stations across the state of Maharashtra.
The state government of Maharashtra has entered into a $2.5 billion partnership with Taiwanese company Gogoro Inc and local supplier Belrise Industries to build electric vehicle (EV) battery-swapping and charging stations in the state.
Gogoro and Belrise Industries, an Indian automotive systems manufacturer, will form an equal stakes joint partnership to form an infrastructure company to own the batteries and swapping stations in Maharashtra, according to Gogoro’s CEO and co-founder Horace Luke.
TechCrunch reported that additional infrastructure-related investors will participate down the line in the joint venture, to raise funding for the smart battery swapping buildout. The joint venture aims to invest up to $2.5 billion over eight years in Maharashtra, according to a non-binding MOU signed by the state, Gogoro and Belrise at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.
Under the non-binding agreement, the project’s deployment will begin this year, with plans to adopt the solutions into adjacent areas such as energy storage and agriculture.
Deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis said the partnership will see Maharashtra deploy the “world’s largest” smart energy infrastructure and “enable new alternatives to the fossil fuels solutions many of our residents use today”.
Maharashtra has some of the best-installed electricity generation capacity in India, with nearly a quarter of its power coming from wind and solar capacity. Gogoro told TechCrunch that Maharashtra has an energy surplus, making it a good launch point for a connected network.
India has been looking to cut emissions and pollution in major cities along with cutting down its oil imports. It has offered millions of dollars in incentives to companies to manufacture EVs and their parts locally.
