Govt considering subsidy for e-vehicle charging infrastructure

The government is addressing the conundrum of charging stations which would not be set up without enough e-vehicles and e-vehicles sales would not pick up unless there is enough facility to charge these vehicles.

“We are bringing a policy in consultation with heavy industries ministry that how these chargers can be established. Whether we need to support that with the subsidy, to begin with,” A K Bhalla said speaking at the launch of “#InnovateToINSPIRE: Creating Future Energy Solutions” a challenge opened by EESL on 21^st August.

He further clarified that for setting up charging infrastructure developers do not need a licence as it is service oriented activity. In draft tariff policy, the government have notified technical standards for charging infrastructure.

Bhalla further added, “The gap is increasing and it is a big challenge. We are setting up renewable energy management centres. We have sanctioned 11 such centres. We are heading much ahead of time of our target of generation installed capacity of more than 40 per cent from non-fossil fuels. We will definitely be achieving this ahead of 2030 deadline.”

In July, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), cancelled the second tender it had advertised in March, 2018. The tender was for 10,000 vehicles and the main reason cited has been the requirement in this tender for EVs in a higher performance category, both in terms of range and features, a requirement with which the existing Bharat EV chargers were simply not compatible.