Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Anant G. Geete inaugurated Charging Infrastructure in the premises of Dwarka metro station in New Delhi today. The charging infrastructure has been developed by Rajasthan Electronics and Instruments (REIL) having 18 charging stations.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister said that 400 e-rickshaws may be charged from these stations free of cost. The minister said that if sponsors are ready then charging will remain free of cost.

REIL claims to have already set up 45 charging stations till date in different cities. Department of Heavy Industry (DHI) is currently funding the charging station installed by REIL. Last week, the minister had launched 8 charging stations in the premises of Udyog Bhawan in New Delhi for facilitating charging of e-vehicles.

FAME-II adoption in progress

The government is working on the FAME-II scheme with a focus on mass and shared public transportation based on electric powertrain. The necessity for development of charging infrastructure for smooth roll out of electric mobility in the country is being addressed in the phase-II of FAME scheme. DHI has notified the FAME India scheme in the year 2015 under ‘National Electric Mobility Mission Plan’ of the Government. The Phase-1 of this scheme is being implemented through four focus areas namely demand creation, pilot projects, charging infrastructure and technology platform and R&D. Under Demand Creation component of the scheme, incentive is available to buyers of electric and hybrid vehicles (xEVs) in the form of an upfront reduced purchase price to enable wider adoption.