India Electric Rickshaw Battery Market Size & Share Analysis - Trends, Drivers, Competitive Landscape, and Forecasts (2025 - 2030)

India Electric Rickshaw Battery Market Size

India Electric Rickshaw Battery Market Trends & Growth Drivers

E-Rickshaws with Higher Battery Power Are Trending in India

• The electric rickshaw market in India is dominated by unorganized players, primarily small, local manufacturers offering low-priced vehicles.
• The electric rickshaws offered by these manufacturers have batteries with a low energy storage capacity (less than 101 Ah).
• Over the years, the market has witnessed a surge in the demand for electric rickshaws that can travel longer distances without frequent charging.
• Since most of the electric rickshaws in India function on the hire-and-operate basis and drivers have to pay operational charges to vehicle owners, they strive to run these vehicles for as many as 10 hours a day, to generate excess income.
• Hence, the demand for more-efficient electric rickshaws has been high among drivers so they can earn additional income by extending the travel time without needing to frequently charge the vehicles.
• This, in turn, has led to a rise in the demand for batteries with a higher energy storage capacity.
• In addition, the expected market consolidation due to the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the growing market penetration of organized manufacturers, such as Exide Industries Ltd. and Amara Raja Batteries Ltd., are expected to catalyze the demand for high-capacity batteries in the coming years.

Favorable Operational Cost of Electric Rickshaws

• The demand for electric three-wheelers is increasing in the country as they are one of the most-convenient and cost-effective modes of transport for short distances.
• These three-wheelers currently account for 83% of the Indian electric vehicle market. India currently has around 15 lakh electric rickshaws, with additional sales of around 11,000 new ones every month.
• These figures could be much higher, as a large percentage is still unregistered.
• The initial cost of electric variants is between USD 811.6 (INR 60,000) and USD 1,487.9 (INR 1.1 lakh), while that of an ICE-based autorickshaw is between USD 2,029.05 (INR 1.5 lakh) and USD 4,058.1 (INR 3 lakh).
• Similarly, the running cost is only INR 0.4 per km for battery variants, compared to INR 2.1–2.3 per km for those driven by petrol (gasoline) or CNG. The maintenance issues related to electric rickshaws are also quite few, which further reduces the maintenance cost.
• Additionally, the specific energy consumption of ICE-based autorickshaws is 362.4 kJ/passenger-km and that of electric rickshaws is 53.76 kJ/passenger-km, which clearly shows that the latter are much more energy-efficient.

Availability of Substandard Batteries with Local Players Hampers Market Growth

• The battery is considered one of the most-essential components of an electric rickshaw.
• However, some of the local players in the market continue to import cheap and low-quality batteries from China, thus compromising the battery life and customer trust, which, in turn, is negatively affecting the growth of the Indian electric rickshaw battery market.
• Owing to the substandard quality, a large number of batteries rapidly drain out even before the realization of their warranty period.
• Electric rickshaw batteries of a capacity more than 101 Ah have a general failure rate of 4–6%, with a 5.5% average failure rate.
• On the other hand, batteries of a capacity less than 101 Ah have an 8–15% general failure rate, with an average failure rate of 9.4%.
• Thus, the presence of low-quality batteries in the market is impacting consumer adoption, which, in turn, is hindering the growth of the electric rickshaw battery market in India.

India Electric Rickshaw Battery Market Analysis

Battery Capacity Analysis

Batteries with a capacity of less than 101 Ah dominate the market, accounting for 65% of the sales revenue in 2024. The category is expected to continue dominating the market in the coming years owing to the end user preference for low-cost e-rickshaws. This can also be attributed to the market dominance of unorganized local players, most of whom manufacture low-cost e-three-wheelers.

During the forecast period, the Indian electric rickshaw battery market is expected to witness the faster growth in the demand for batteries with a capacity of more than 101 Ah. This can be attributed to the increasing demand for e-rickshaws that can travel longer distances without frequent charging.

The segment is bifurcated as below:

• <101 Ah (Larger Category)
• >101 Ah (Faster-Growing Category)

Battery Type Analysis

The lithium-ion bifurcation holds the larger share, and it is expected to have the higher CAGR over the forecast period, of 10%. This will mainly be due to their availability in standard industry sizes, 50–60% lower weight, and a 25–50% higher capacity. Additionally, they have a low self-discharge rate, which allows them to maintain their state of charge for a longer time. Moreover, they are highly efficient in charging, requiring 1–3 hours for a full charge, with built-in overcharge protection.

We have studied these battery types:

• Lead–Acid
• Lithium-Ion (Larger and Faster-Growing Category)

Vehicle Analysis

Passenger carriers hold the revenue larger share in the market in 2024, of 95% revenue. The presence of a large passenger base in the country, coupled with the rising demand for cost-effective last-mile connectivity, is a major factor driving the market for this category.

The market is expected to witness faster growth in the category of load carriers, with 11% CAGR in terms of value. The growth in the economy, expansion in the e-commerce industry, and low total cost of ownership (TCO) of load carriers are expected to support the market growth in this category in the coming years.

The report offers insights into the following vehicles:

• Passenger Carrier (Larger Category)
• Load Carrier (Faster-Growing Category)

End Use Analysis

The replacement category accounts for the larger share in 2024, and it will also witness the higher revenue CAGR, of 10%, over this decade. This is due to the increased demand to replace the electric rickshaw batteries that are currently in the market. Li-ion batteries offer more than 1,500 charge cycles, but after that, they lose their efficiency and need to be replaced. The rising average age of these three-wheelers is a key factor driving battery replacement rates around the country.

The below-mentioned end uses are covered:

• OEM
• Replacement (Larger and Faster-Growing Category)

Uttar Pradesh Is Largest Contributor To Market

Uttar Pradesh is the largest market for electric rickshaw batteries in India in 2024, with 20% revenue contribution. The growing usage of electric rickshaws by commuters, consistent with the rising need for eco-friendly modes of transportation, especially for last-mile traveling, is supporting the growth of electric rickshaw fleets in the state, which, in turn, is providing impetus to the demand for electric rickshaw batteries in major cities, including Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur, and Noida. Electric rickshaws have also gained considerable traction among local commuters in many small towns of the state in recent years, as these rickshaws involve a lower cost of travel as compared to other modes of transportation. This has further led to the increasing demand for electric rickshaw batteries in the state.

During the forecast period, Tripura is expected to witness the fastest growth in the country, with a CAGR of 20%. This will mainly be due the increasing number of electric rickshaws on the roads across the state. Moreover, the number of dealers is rising significantly in the state, which further supports the market growth here.

The market is broken down into the below-mentioned states:

• Madhya Pradesh
• Uttar Pradesh (Largest State Market)
• Delhi
• West Bengal
• Rajasthan
• Bihar
• Haryana
• Chhattisgarh
• Uttarakhand
• Punjab
• Jharkhand
• Assam
• Tripura (Fastest-Growing State Market)
• Rest of India

India Electric Rickshaw Battery Market Competitive Landscape

• The Indian electric rickshaw battery market is fragmented in nature, with several unorganized local players competing against each other to sustain and increase their market share.
• There are hundreds of lead acid battery manufacturers in India offering batteries for electric rickshaws.
• These players import components of these rickshaws from China and Taiwan and assemble them locally.
• However, after the GST rollout, the share of unorganized players in the market has significantly decreased and is further expected to decline during the forecast period.
• Anticipating the demand for these vehicles, especially for last-mile connectivity, organized OEMs, such as Hero Electric Vehicles Pvt. Ltd. and Lohia Auto Industries, have recently penetrated the market.

India Electric Rickshaw Battery Market Company News

• In August 2024, Amara Raja Group inaugurated its battery cell Gigafactory and laid the foundation stone for a customer qualification plant in Divitipally, Mahabubnagar district of Telangana. Operationalized with a capacity of 1.5 GWh in the first phase, the complete factory will produce 5 GWh of battery packs and 16 GWh of battery cells every year.
• In August 2024, Amara Raja Group signed an MoU with Piaggio India to supply LFP battery cells to the latter two- and three-wheeler manufacturer.
• In November 2023, Exide Industries Ltd. announced plans to invest INR 1,100 crore in its subsidiary Exide Energy Solutions Limited, which manufactures Li-ion battery cells.