Shared shore charging and rented battery kits for small tourist boats at jetties
TL;DR Jettycharge puts shared charging berths at one busy tourist jetty and rents electric outboard and battery kits to the small boat operators who work from it. Operators pay a monthly kit rent plus energy, and the jetty owner earns a site fee. Big ferries already charge at their own terminals, so this is for everyone else.
Public water transport in Kerala has shown that electric boats work. The State Water Transport Department runs the award-winning solar ferry Aditya, launched the 100-seat Indra in December 2023 and ordered 16 more solar-electric boats from a Kerala boatbuilder[1]. Kochi Water Metro's ferries recharge in 10–15 minutes while passengers board[2].
Small private operators are left out. One builder of solar ferries reports they cost 30–50% more than diesel ones upfront[3], and that's money a family running two tourist motorboats simply doesn't have. The same author lists Chilika, the Sundarbans, the Ganga and the Statue of Unity as places where petrol and diesel boats should be phased out[3]. If that happens then the small operators have nowhere to plug in.
What it does, in regulatory terms: a shore charging service and an equipment-rental business. Boat conversions go through the vessel approval process. Under the Inland Vessels Act 2021, changing a mechanically propelled vessel needs prior approval, and every such vessel needs a survey certificate, registration and liability insurance[4]. Jettycharge handles that paperwork for each converted boat.
At one jetty cluster, Jettycharge wires four to six charging berths from the grid, adds rooftop solar on the jetty shed and runs a booking system so boats charge between trips and overnight. Operators who want to switch rent a kit - an electric outboard sized to their hull plus a marine lithium pack, swapped or repaired by Jettycharge. The pitch to operators is a lower monthly running cost and a quieter ride for tourists, with no big purchase.
The original idea was floating solar fast-charging stations, which I think overcomplicates it. Boats come back to a jetty anyway, so a floating unit adds mooring, survey and theft headaches for no gain. Large operators fit chargers at their own floating terminals, like Kochi does[2].
Boat operators pay a monthly kit rent and a per-kWh charge for energy, and both prices are assumptions to test against what they spend on fuel today. The jetty owner, usually a state tourism, irrigation or port body, earns a site fee and gets cleaner water for its brochures. State tourism budgets or company CSR funds could cover the first berths.
Battery-electric boats now ship from Kerala to the world. One Kerala builder sent a 10-metre solar-electric leisure boat with two 20 kWh LFP packs to Canada in 2026[5]. Kerala's state ferry operator went from one solar boat to an order of 16[1]. The supply side is ready, and what small operators lack is a shore network.
I found no public count of small motorised tourist boats in India, and no figure for spend on electric-boat charging. On the adjacent side, a market research firm, as quoted by a boatbuilder's founder, counted 15,000 solar and electric leisure boats sold worldwide in 2020 and expected 70,000 by the end of the decade[3]. Treat that as global context and not as your market.
A Kerala boatbuilder builds solar-electric ferries and leisure boats and supplies Kerala's water transport department[1][6]. Kochi Water Metro charges its own fleet at its terminals[2]. Both serve buyers who can spend crores on a vessel. In my limited search I found no Indian business offering shared charging or rented electric kits to small private boat operators.
| Difficulty | Hard (55/100) |
| Starting capital | ₹80 L–1.6 Cr |
| Time to launch | 9–12 months |
The electrical work is modest. The slow bits are winning a jetty site from a government body, getting each conversion approved and keeping batteries safe on open boats in monsoon rain. Operators are cash-poor and seasonal too, so revenue dips for months every year.
Yes for the boats. The charging berths are simpler, but every converted vessel goes through approval.
Building this outside India? The categories above usually have a local equivalent, so check with your own regulator.
Don't rely on AI for safety decisions on the water, like whether a boat is fit to sail. Those stay with surveyors and trained crew.
Want to work out the AI layer for Jettycharge? Talk to Yash →
I'd back a founder with marine engineering or boat-operations experience who can work patiently with a state tourism department. If you want a national network quickly then this is the wrong idea. Prove one thing first at one jetty - ten operators rent kits for a full season and spend less than they did on fuel.
Plan for roughly ₹80 L–1.6 Cr, mostly on charging berths, solar on the jetty shed and a stock of rental motor and battery kits.
Yes. Modifying a mechanically propelled vessel needs prior approval under the Inland Vessels Act 2021, plus survey, registration and insurance for each boat.
Yes, wherever small tourist boats run from shared jetties. Check your local vessel modification rules and who controls the jetty first.
The free Jettycharge validation kit has the line-by-line capital breakdown, the effort scoring, the vessel approval and shore-power checklist, a 14-day validation sprint with pass/fail targets, a 90-day launch plan, 10 interview questions for boat operators and jetty owners, and 5 assumptions to test. Download the kit →
Thinking about building Jettycharge or something close to it? The make-or-break work is winning the first jetty and getting boat conversions approved in time for the season, and I'm happy to help you plan that order of moves. If you need a hand, you know where to find me. Talk to Yash →
For illustration only. Names are fictional and ideas hypothetical; sourced facts are real but may be out of date. Nothing here is legal, financial or professional advice, and Yash Khatri is not personally liable for any use of it. Read the full disclaimer.