EVs in India: According to a statement by Power Ministry, EV charging stations are now available in Surat, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Chennai.
New Delhi: According to a latest statement by the Ministry of Power, India now has EV charging stations in nine cities. The EV charging stations have expanded by two-and-a-half times across nine megacities, including Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, in the last four months
The Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations are now available in Surat, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Chennai. According to the statement, additional 678 public EV charging stations were installed between October 2021 and January 2022 in these nine cities. About 940 of India’s 1,640 public EV chargers are located in these cities.
The government has increased its focus initially on nine megacities with a population of over 4 million. The Ministry of Power recently issued the revised consolidated Guidelines and Standards for EV charging infrastructure on January 14, 2022.
Private Investment Increasing
With the considerable expansion in the public EV charging infrastructure, electric vehicles have started penetrating the Indian market, it stated. The government has made 360-degree efforts to enhance public charging infrastructure by involving private and public agencies (BEE, EESL, PGCIL, NTPC, etc.).
The report also added that many private organisations have also come forward to install EV charging stations to develop a convenient charging network grid to gain consumers’ confidence.
After the saturation of EV infrastructure in these megacities, the government has plans to expand the coverage to other cities in a phased manner.
Oil Marketing Companies Taking Lead
Oil marketing companies have announced the setting up of 22,000 EV charging stations in prominent cities and on national highways across the country. Out of 22,000 EV charging stations, 10,000 will be installed by IOCL (Indian Oil), 7,000 will be installed by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL), and the rest of 5,000 will be installed by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL).
The IOCL has already installed 439 EV charging stations and plans to install another 2,000 EV charging stations over the next year. BPCL has installed 52 charging stations, while HPCL has installed 382 charging stations.
The Department of Heavy Industry has recently sanctioned 1,576 public charging stations for 25 highways & expressways which shall be located within every 25 km of range on both sides of these highways.
