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Battery Smart clocks 100 million EV battery swaps, launches Rs 10 crore driver fund
GURUGRAM: Battery Smart has crossed a landmark few in India’s electric-mobility race: 100 million battery swaps. The five-year-old company is the first in the country to do so, cementing battery swapping as a serious alternative to plugs, queues and downtime.
The numbers are chunky. Those swaps have powered 3.5 billion clean kilometres, avoided 237,000 tonnes of CO₂e and saved the equivalent of 233 million litres of fuel. Battery Smart now runs an estimated 70 per cent of India’s battery-swapping infrastructure, spanning two- and three-wheelers across the country.
To mark the milestone, the company unveiled a Rs 10 crore Driver Welfare Fund 2026, aimed at bolstering insurance cover, rewards, free swaps, skill-building and community programmes for roughly 1 lakh EV drivers. Since launch, the platform has enabled cumulative driver earnings of more than Rs 2,800 crores.
“Crossing 100 million swaps shows that clean mobility can be affordable, accessible and scalable in India,” said Pulkit Khurana and Siddharth Sikka, co-founders of Battery Smart. “Every swap is a driver choosing uptime over waiting, assurance over anxiety. This milestone belongs to the drivers, partners, OEMs, investors and policymakers who believed battery swapping could work at scale.”
Battery Smart’s network runs on IoT-enabled batteries and real-time monitoring, allowing predictive maintenance and high uptime—crucial in a gig economy where idle hours cost money. The ecosystem is notably inclusive, with more than 5,000 women drivers and over 250 women partners.
Founded in 2019 by the IIT Kanpur alumni, the company has built 1,600-plus swap stations, serves over 100,000 drivers and operates in more than 50 cities. By 2026 it plans to enter 100 additional cities, roll out thousands of new stations and scale daily swaps sharply as commercial EV demand accelerates.
More stations, smarter batteries, tougher safety systems—and a bigger safety net for drivers. Battery Smart is not just swapping batteries any more; it is swapping the rules of India’s EV game.
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Jubilant FoodWorks faces Rs 47.5 crore GST demand, plans appeal
Tax authorities flag alleged misclassification of restaurant services
MUMBAI: Jubilant FoodWorks Limited has landed in a tax tussle after receiving a GST demand of Rs 47.5 crore from the office of the additional commissioner of CGST and central excise in Thane, Maharashtra.
The order, issued under the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, relates to an alleged incorrect classification of certain services under the category of restaurant services. According to the tax authorities, this classification resulted in a short payment of goods and services tax for the period between the financial years 2019-20 and 2021-22.
The demand includes Rs 47.5 crore in GST along with an equal amount as penalty, in addition to applicable interest. The order was received by the company on March 13, 2026.
In a regulatory filing to the BSE Limited and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited, the company said it disagrees with the order and believes its arguments were not adequately considered.
The company is preparing to challenge the decision and plans to file an appeal. It added that once the redressal process is complete, the demand is likely to be dropped.
Despite the sizeable figure attached to the notice, the company said it does not expect any material impact on its financials, operations or other activities.
The disclosure was signed by Suman Hegde, EVP and chief financial officer, who confirmed that the company received the order at 19:06 IST on March 13 and has already initiated steps to contest it.
The development places the quick service restaurant major in the middle of a tax debate that could hinge on how certain restaurant-linked services are classified under GST rules. For now, the company appears ready to take the matter from the tax office to the appeals desk.
