Government Plans To Set-Up EV Charging Panels At Fuel Stations

In a bid to support the sales of electric vehicles (EV) in India, the Power ministry is looking into a new electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure policy which will allow individuals to set up charging stations for commercial use as informed by RK Singh, Power & Renewable Energy minister. "We have circulated the EV Charging Policy for comments among other department/ministries. The second line of the policy says that everybody is free to set up EV charging station," Singh told reporters at the International Symposium to Promote Innovation & Research in Energy Efficiency. Moreover, individuals will not require any license to use the facility for commercial purpose.

Speaking to the media, Singh also informed that his ministry is working to coordinate with the oil ministry to set up EV charging station at petrol pumps. To support investments in new, innovative and scalable business models, the EESL (Energy Efficiency Services Ltd) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) also signed an agreement for a Global Environment Facility (GEF) for grant of $ 13 million to establish an Energy Efficiency Revolving Fund (EERF) on this occasion. The EERF aims to expand and sustain investments in the energy efficiency market in India, build market diversification, and scale up existing technologies.

The EV charging infrastructure is required to boost EVs in the country. India intends to have sizeable share of EVs in the vehicle strength by 2030, which is in line with its commitment to reduce emission intensity by one third from the level of 2005.