Chennai to get EV charging stations first

According to the Power Ministry’s policy on installing charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, highways connecting mega cities, including Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata – with over four million populations – will get the public charging infrastructure.

The Centre has pledged to ensure 30 per cent of all vehicles on the road are electric by 2030. The national budget 2019-20 had an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore for Phase-II of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles scheme to boost electric mobility and increase the number of EVs in commercial fleets.

In phase two, the recently released policy said that all the big cities like State capitals and Union Territory headquarters would be covered for distribution and demonstrative effect.

There will be at least one electric vehicle charging station in a grid of 3 km. On the highway, there will be an electric car station every 25 km. For long range vehicles like buses and trucks, there would be at least one fast-charging station every 100 km. The government has also recognised key corridors that will have electric charging stations for both smaller private vehicles and larger commercial vehicles. Among the corridors, Chennai-Bengaluru and Bengaluru-Mysuru will have the EV charging facility.

The most important announcement in the Power Ministry’s policy is thatthe setting up of these charging stations will be a de-licensed activity and thus these charging stations are expected rolled out rapidly.

While private charging stations at house/apartment complex/office block can be set up for vehicles to be used internally, public charging stations will have to have a minimum requirement of charging for infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the Union Housing Ministry has issued an amendment of the building code and town planning rules for setting up charging stations in private and commercial buildings.

It said that the move is toencourage electric vehicles as a viable option in terms of short and long-distance trips with appropriate charging infrastructure.

Hence, the pre-condition for this paradigm shift to sustainable transportation involves facilitating such transition, infrastructure provisions at regional and city levels by including the norms and standards for charging infrastructure in the master plan regulations and State byelaws for adoption across the country.