JNPA’s Big Electric Truck Bet – Swappable Batteries Roll Into Nhava Sheva

If you’d been standing on the dock at Nhava Sheva this week, you’d have seen something you don’t usually see at an Indian port: rows of big, white heavy-duty trucks gliding almost silently past the container stacks. No smoke, no clattering diesel engines, just a quiet hum. This is the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority’s (JNPA) first fleet of electric heavy trucks, and it’s hard not to feel that something big is shifting.

On paper, the port has only rolled out 50 vehicles for now, but the symbolism is larger. JNPA, which handles nearly half of India’s container traffic, is betting that swappable battery technology will let it go green without bringing port logistics to a crawl.

A “First” That Could Set the Tone

During the flag-off ceremony, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal called the move “a decisive step” toward modernising India’s ports. JNPA’s chairperson Unmesh Sharad Wagh went a bit further, suggesting the project could become a blueprint for others. To be fair, the numbers do sound ambitious: 80 trucks by year-end, and a 90 per cent electrification of its internal heavy-duty fleet — roughly 600 trucks — by December 2026.

That’s not a token pilot. That’s an overhaul.

Standing there, you could sense that this wasn’t just about optics. The port has built a dedicated swapping station on site to handle the energy demands of these big rigs. Instead of parking for an hour to charge, drivers can roll in, swap the battery, and be back on the move in minutes. For an operation where delays cost real money, that matters.

Why Swapping Makes Sense Here

Most people outside logistics don’t think about how ports work. Trucks inside a port aren’t like city buses; they’re constantly shuttling between berths, container yards, warehouses, and customs areas. Stopping to charge for even 30–40 minutes would throw the whole schedule off.

That’s where swapping shows its teeth. It’s not a new idea — Chinese players like NIO have been at it for cars — but in a closed, high-utilisation environment like a port, it’s practically tailor-made. You can centralise the charging, maintain the batteries in optimal conditions, and run the vehicles almost continuously.

And because all the routes are predictable, you don’t need massive public charging networks or range anxiety. The trucks go from point A to point B inside the port; the swapping station sits right in between. Simple, in theory.

Greener, Quieter — and Cheaper in the Long Run?

JNPA says the trucks will cut tailpipe emissions to zero and significantly reduce noise. Anyone who’s spent time around diesel yard trucks will appreciate how huge that is. Less noise, less soot, better air for workers, and fewer greenhouse gases for the planet.

The port is framing it as part of India’s push toward net zero by 2070, but there’s a business angle too. Diesel costs are volatile. Maintenance on internal combustion engines is high. Electric drivetrains, if managed well, can lower operating costs over time.

Of course, “if managed well” is doing a lot of work in that sentence. Batteries degrade, power tariffs can fluctuate, and capital costs are front-loaded. JNPA is essentially making a long-term bet that technology, policy, and scale will tilt the numbers in its favour.

The Nuts and Bolts (and the Questions)

From what’s been disclosed, the first batch comprises heavy-duty trucks tailored for container movement. They’re fitted with high-capacity lithium-ion packs designed to be swapped out with specialised cranes or automated rigs at the station. JNPA hasn’t published full technical specs yet — range, payload impact, cycle times — which makes industry folks like me curious.

The swap station itself is equally important. It has to maintain dozens, maybe hundreds, of spare battery modules, keep them charged, cooled, and rotated properly, and handle the logistics of matching the right battery to the right truck. If something hiccups there, the whole model falters.

Then there’s the grid. Charging scores of truck batteries is no small feat. Ports often sit in grid-constrained zones. JNPA says it’s working with utilities to ensure a stable high-capacity supply and backup systems, but until we see it in action at scale, the jury’s out.

A Testbed for India’s Green Freight Future

Despite the caveats, this is exactly the kind of experiment India’s freight sector needs. High-volume, high-utilisation, contained environments like ports and industrial parks are the low-hanging fruit for heavy EV adoption. They’re perfect for learning what works — and what doesn’t — before trying to electrify long-haul trucking on highways.

If JNPA nails this, it won’t just clean up one port. It’ll provide a playbook. Other major ports — Mundra, Chennai, Kandla — are watching. Even inland freight hubs could copy the model. There’s a real chance of a domino effect.

Industry Reaction: Curious, Cautious, Hopeful

People I spoke to in the logistics world are intrigued but cautious. Battery swapping at scale is still largely unproven outside two-wheelers. The economics hinge on battery longevity, station throughput, and how India prices electricity versus diesel over the next few years.

Some are optimistic, pointing out that the government’s FAME incentives and the new Green Ports initiative create a favourable policy environment. Others note that the technology partners behind these trucks and the swap station haven’t been named publicly, and that matters: who supplies the batteries, who services them, who owns them?

Still, there’s a sense of inevitability. Everyone knows ports have to decarbonise. Diesel-powered yard tractors are low-hanging fruit. Whether swapping is the winning model or not, this experiment will teach the sector valuable lessons.

My Two Paise

Watching those trucks roll off was, frankly, a bit surreal. Indian ports have always been noisy, gritty places. Seeing electric heavy trucks glide past without coughing out fumes felt like stepping into a future we’ve been talking about for a decade.

I’m bullish on this specific pilot. Ports are controlled environments; swapping makes sense, and JNPA has the scale to actually test the model. My only worry is execution at 10x scale. Moving from 50 to 600 trucks, with hundreds of battery modules, trained staff, and a rock-solid power supply, is a serious operational challenge.

But you’ve got to start somewhere, and starting with 50 is better than endless white papers and pilot proposals.

What to Watch Next

• Performance data over the next 6–12 months: range, uptime, battery health.
• Swap station efficiency: how quickly can they turn trucks around at peak hours?
• Expansion pace: Can JNPA hit its target of 80 trucks by year-end?
• Total cost per km vs diesel: the business case will drive replication.
• Policy continuity: subsidies and grid upgrades need to hold steady.
• Replication: Will other ports or large logistics parks jump in?

If even half of these boxes tick, JNPA’s programme could become the template for heavy-duty EV adoption across India’s freight nodes.

Bottom Line

This isn’t just another ribbon-cutting photo-op. It’s India’s busiest port, trying to reinvent one of its dirtiest operations. If the trucks deliver and the swapping works at scale, we might be looking at the beginning of a new era for heavy-duty electric logistics in India.

And for readers of NextWhatBusiness, this is the kind of story worth following closely. It’s not just about technology; it’s about how infrastructure, policy, and economics come together to change the way goods move in a country of 1.4 billion people.