As the global automotive industry accelerates its transition towards electric mobility, India is positioning itself at the forefront of regulatory innovation with the proposed 21-digit Battery Pack Aadhaar Number (BPAN). This ambitious initiative by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways seeks to establish a comprehensive digital identification and data storage system for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, marking a pivotal step towards enhancing traceability, safety, and sustainability within the nation’s rapidly expanding EV sector. The BPAN is more than just an identification tag; it represents a foundational pillar for a robust battery lifecycle management system, impacting manufacturers, consumers, financiers, and the broader circular economy.
The core of the BPAN system is a unique 21-digit identifier assigned to each battery pack, designed to provide end-to-end traceability from raw material sourcing through manufacturing, usage, second-life applications, and ultimate disposal. This digital fingerprint will embed critical information, including the Battery Manufacturer Identifier (BMI), Battery Descriptor Section (BDS), Battery Identifier (BI), Battery Material Composition Section (BMCS), Battery Carbon Footprint (BCF), and crucially, Battery Dynamic Data (BDD). The BDD, encompassing real-time parameters such as battery status, category, and State of Health (SOH), is particularly transformative. SOH, a metric indicating the current capacity of a battery relative to its original capacity, is vital for assessing performance, predicting lifespan, and ensuring timely maintenance. By making such detailed information accessible, BPAN aims to foster greater transparency, empower stakeholders with actionable insights, and mitigate risks associated with battery performance and longevity.
The economic ramifications of BPAN are extensive, touching every segment of the EV value chain. For manufacturers, the system promises enhanced quality control and supply chain transparency. With detailed data on raw material origin and manufacturing processes, companies can more effectively manage warranties, optimize production, and validate claims of indigenous manufacturing – a critical aspect for leveraging incentives under India’s ₹18,100-crore Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) battery manufacturing. This level of verification can accelerate the domestic battery ecosystem, reducing reliance on imports which surged to approximately $3 billion in FY25 from $1.8 billion in FY22, predominantly for lithium-ion batteries. While India currently focuses on assembling imported lithium-ion cells into battery packs, BPAN could catalyze deeper localization by ensuring adherence to domestic content requirements and quality benchmarks.
Consumers, both of new and used EVs, stand to gain significantly from this transparency. The battery often constitutes up to half the cost of an EV, making its health and provenance paramount. For new vehicle buyers, BPAN offers assurance regarding the battery’s quality and expected lifespan, alleviating common concerns like range anxiety and degradation. For the burgeoning second-hand EV market, BPAN is a game-changer. Prospective buyers will have unprecedented access to a battery’s full history, including its SOH, charge cycles, and any past maintenance, enabling them to make informed decisions and fostering trust in a market segment often plagued by uncertainty. This can unlock greater liquidity and fair valuation for pre-owned electric vehicles, ultimately accelerating wider EV adoption.
Financial institutions, a critical enabler of EV proliferation, are set to benefit immensely. The lack of standardized frameworks for reporting battery degradation and forecasting residual values has historically complicated asset monitoring and lending decisions. As Dhiraj Agarwal, Chief Business Officer at Mufin Green Finance, an EV financier, has highlighted, lenders currently rely on vehicle telematics and maintenance records, but the absence of a unified data source presents challenges. BPAN addresses this directly by providing verifiable, dynamic data on battery health and performance. This granular insight will enable financiers to more accurately assess risk, tailor loan products, and structure innovative financing models such as battery leasing or battery-as-a-service, which can significantly lower the upfront cost of EVs for consumers. Similarly, insurance providers can leverage BPAN data to assess risk more accurately, offer customized policies, and streamline claims processing related to battery incidents, thereby contributing to a more robust and responsive insurance market for EVs.
India’s approach to battery identification draws parallels with international initiatives, notably the European Union’s Battery Regulations and the EU Battery Passport. The EU system, aiming for lifecycle transparency, traceability, and digital compliance, sets high standards for sustainability, human rights, and carbon footprint reporting across the battery value chain. While acknowledging these global benchmarks, the Indian Ministry has designed BPAN with the specific context of its domestic market in mind. India’s EV market, characterized by its immense scale, especially in the two- and three-wheeler segments, and its inherent price sensitivity, demands a compliance framework that is robust yet tailored. The government aims to achieve comprehensive transparency without imposing the "EU-level data burden and infrastructure cost on mass-market batteries," ensuring that regulatory measures do not impede market growth or affordability for the average consumer. This pragmatic adaptation underscores India’s strategic balance between global best practices and local market realities.
The rapid expansion of India’s EV sector underscores the urgency of such a system. In 2025, India’s EV sales surpassed 2 million units, an increase from approximately 1.9 million in the preceding year, according to Vahan, the government’s vehicle registry. This growth trajectory is projected to continue, with substantial increases anticipated across all vehicle segments, particularly in electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers, which dominate the market due to their affordability and utility in urban and last-mile logistics. BPAN will apply not only to EV batteries but also to industrial batteries above 2 kilowatt-hours (kWh) capacity and Starting, Lighting, and Ignition (SLI) batteries used in conventional vehicles, extending its impact across a wider spectrum of energy storage applications.
Looking ahead, BPAN is poised to play a crucial role in fostering a circular economy for batteries in India. By providing comprehensive data on battery material composition and end-of-life status, it will facilitate efficient collection, repurposing for second-life applications (e.g., stationary energy storage), and responsible recycling. This is critical for resource security, minimizing environmental impact, and reducing India’s reliance on virgin raw material imports, many of which are geographically concentrated and susceptible to supply chain disruptions. The system could also help address safety concerns that have occasionally surfaced in the Indian EV market, by enabling better diagnostics and tracking of battery performance anomalies, leading to proactive interventions and improved overall safety standards.
However, the successful implementation of BPAN will require overcoming several challenges. Establishing the necessary digital infrastructure, ensuring interoperability across diverse manufacturers and data platforms, and robust data security protocols will be paramount. Standardizing data formats and ensuring consistent data input from all stakeholders will also be crucial. Furthermore, the system must be adaptable to future technological advancements in battery chemistry and design. Despite these complexities, India’s move to implement BPAN is a bold and forward-thinking step. It positions the nation as a leader in digitalizing critical aspects of the EV value chain, promising to unlock unprecedented levels of transparency, accountability, and sustainability, and ultimately accelerating India’s journey towards a cleaner, greener, and more self-reliant mobility future.
