Davos 2023: Gogoro, Belrise Ink Deal With Maharashtra Government to Set Up Battery Swapping Infrastructure

Taiwanese electric mobility solutions provider Gogoro on Tuesday said it along with Belrise Industries has inked a pact with the Maharashtra government to set up battery-swapping infrastructure in the state.

Gogoro and Belrise have inked a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra government in this regard on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

As per the agreement, Gogoro and Belrise -- a leading Tier-1 automotive system manufacturer which accounts for one-third of all two-wheel and three-wheel chassis made in India -- plan to set up a joint venture for the initiative.

Gogoro and Belrise "plan to build a $2.5 billion (roughly Rs. 20,435 crore) battery swapping infrastructure in the state" with more partners and investors expected to join in over the next few years.

The infrastructure deployment will be the world's largest sustainability-focused portable energy system to date, Gogoro claimed in the statement.

It will focus on offering open access for a variety of uses including battery swapping, smart electric vehicles, mobility sharing, demand response services and distributed energy storage, smart agriculture, and other applications.

The deployment is also expected to accelerate job growth throughout the smart energy, electric vehicle, and sustainability value chain.

"It is indeed a remarkable moment for the state, this will perhaps be the largest green partnership of this nature worldwide," Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde stated.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis noted: "We are partnering with Gogoro and Belrise to deploy the world's largest and most innovative smart energy infrastructure to utilise battery swapping for solving the unique and distributed energy challenges we face daily. This project will enable new alternatives to the fossil fuels solutions many of our residents use today." Gogoro CEO Horace Luke said that together, the state of Maharashtra, Belrise, and Gogoro plan to shift energy usage and establish this new sustainable economy that will encourage jobs creation, establish new technical and sustainable industrial capabilities, and ultimately increase state exports.

With more than 120 million residents, Maharashtra is India's largest economy and industrialised state with a gross domestic product of more than $450 billion (roughly Rs. 36,78,320 crore) that accounts for 16 percent of India's industrial output.

This year's WEF Annual Meeting has got several states including Maharashtra, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu presenting their own investment destination profiles and have got their own pavilions, in addition to three separate pavilions set up by the central government.

The Maharashtra government has already inked pacts worth Rs 1.36 lakh crore with global investors.