Smart energy infrastructure is coming on its way to the state of Maharashtra. In a strategic energy partnership with Maharashtra Government, Gogoro, a Taiwan-based company indulged in developing a battery-swapping system, and Belrise Industries, tier-1 automotive system manufacturer in India (formerly known as Badve Engineering Ltd), have agreed to collaborate to establish an unprecedented battery-swapping infrastructure in India. In an equal partnership, Gogoro and Belrise have announced an investment of $2.5 billion for the project which is to be built in Maharashtra over eight years. A non-binding MoU agreement was signed on January 17, 2023 at the Maharashtra pavilion during World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

On the three-way agreement, Maharashtra Chief Minister, Eknath Shinde, said, “It is indeed a remarkable moment for the State. This will perhaps be the largest green partnership of this nature worldwide.”

The step is taken with a view to solving the energy challenges faced by the country. “As a national leader in sustainability, it is important for the state to embrace new technologies that are open, accessible and enable dynamic solutions that can accelerate the transition to smarter sustainable cities and set an example that other states in India can follow,” added Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

The world’s largest and most innovative smart energy infrastructure utilising battery swapping ecosystem expects to begin deploying across the State of Maharashtra in 2023 which will leverage Gogoro’s smart energy ecosystem including smart battery stations, swapping technologies, network management solutions and will provide numerous innovations to the state, contributing in the areas of smart city design and development, energy storage stations & systems, smart mobility sharing, smart electric vehicles, demand response services and distributed energy storage, smart agriculture, among other applications.

Horace Luke, Founder and CEO, Gogoro, said, “The future of smart sustainable cities and countries is not about a single company or government but about a community coming together to instill a new way of thinking and a new way of utilizing sustainable energy in an open and accessible way. This partnership represents the future and this new way of thinking - not just about sustainable transportation, but about an entirely new system. That is why we truly believe in building open and accessible infrastructure that will uplift the entire ecosystem.”

The trio plans to shift energy usage and establish this new sustainable economy to encourage jobs creation, establish new technical and sustainable industrial capabilities, and ultimately increase state exports.

"Clean energy is the future, and now is the time for Indian businesses to begin their transition to a new model of sustainable operations. As a manufacturing leader in India’s transportation industry, we are embracing this for our own business, customers, and communities,” said Shrikant Badve, Managing Director, Belrise Industries.