The union minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Anant G Geete today inaugurated two charging stations – fast charging (DC) and slow charging (AC) – in Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi, as part of the Swachhta Pakhwada celebrations of the Department of Heavy Industry.

Currently, eight charging stations have been installed in the premises of for facilitating charging of EVs, of the eight charging stations, two fast-charging stations have been installed by BHEL and six slow charging stations have been installed by Energy Efficiency Services (EESL).

The AC charger consists of three outlets, which can charge three cars at the same time in 6-8 hour, while the DC charger consists of a single outlet, that can charge one car at a time in a 1.5 hour.

The ministry says as a part of Swachh Bharat Mission and to continue with the government’s sustained effort to promote electric mobility in the country, the Department of Heavy Industry has allocated 455 electric buses to selected cities and special category states, through Expression of Interest (EoI). Additionally, the ministry has also approved funding of 130 electric buses to Ahmedabad, Himachal Pradesh and Navi Mumbai.

The union ministry also informed the project for 25 charging stations in Bangalore is being funded by the central government under the aegis of Public Fast Charging Infrastructure Network for electric vehicles. The government has also funded solar-based charging infrastructure for EVs by BHEL. The DC 001 fast chargers have been supplied and commissioned by BHEL and the company is also in advanced stages of offering indigenously developed end-to-end e-mobility solutions. 

The proposal of setting-up 200 charging stations and putting up of Solar Based Charging Infrastructure for EVs by Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments (REIL) is also being funded by the Department of Heavy Industry.  REIL has already installed three solar hybrid chargers in Jaipur. The other locations where EV charging stations have been installed are:

·         18 AC chargers installed at Metro Station, Dwarka, Sector 10, Delhi under DMRC.

·         2 DC chargers installed at Shram Shakti Bhawan, Delhi.

·         15 AC chargers installed at various sites under Jaipur Metro Railway Corporation (JMRC).

·         Installation of 9 EV chargers (4 DC & 5 AC) and 2 EV chargers (1 DC & 1 AC) at various sites of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and BSES Rajdhani Power (BRPL), Delhi is under process.

The ministry is also funding some technology projects including finalisation of specifications and draft standards of xEVs by ARAI, Pune; development of charging infrastructure management system By IIT, Madras; design and development of AC-DC combined public charging stations by ARAI and development of indigenous chargers (AC/DC/Solar) by AMU.