Advertisement

Bids invited by Government for over 1,000 Electric Vehicle Charging stations

In a bid to welcome Electric vehicles in the country, the Government invited bids for over 1000 charging stations across places, notified as smart cities.

The government has begun the process of inviting bids for around 1,000 electric vehicle charging stations to be set up in cities with over a million people and others notified as smart cities.

According to public notices published this week, the Ministry of Heavy Industries has invited Expressions of Interest (EoI) from those looking to set up EV infrastructure in the country. 

These charging stations will be set up in “million-plus cities as per the 2011 census; and smart cities as notified by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs,” the ministry said. EoIs and proposals have also been invited from satellite towns connected to seven metros (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Ahmadabad); major cities of special categories State/UTs; and the capital city of all states/UTs not covered in the above categories.

“Initially, 1,000 EV charging stations are earmarked for deployment through this EoI. These charging stations will be sanctioned to different states/cities/entities after evaluation of the proposals received under this EOI,” the heavy industries ministry said. The last date for submission of the proposals is August 20, 2019. According to the notice, the charging station should be connected with the ‘grid-connected solar power plant’ of required capacity as per MNRE guidelines to ensure grid stability and green energy for electric vehicles.

Vakrangee EV stations 

The government’s push to promote EV vehicle adoption and the setting up of charging infrastructure has resulted in a slew of companies announcing their intentions to enter the space. Earlier this week, rural services facilitator Vakrangee said that it has decided to set up EV charging infrastructure facilities through its Vakrangee Kendra outlets. “Vakrangee has 3,504 Nextgen Vakrangee Kendras spread across 19 states, 366 districts and 2,186 postal codes. Over 68 per cent outlets are from tier 5 and tier 6 cities.

Our planned target is to reach at least 75,000 by FY2021-22 and 3,00,000 outlets by FY2024-25,” it said.
With such extensive reach in the nation’s hinterlands, Vakrangee plans to leverage the network by being an enabler for EV charging. 

“For all operators who want to set up EV services, it will make sense to leverage our charging infrastructure rather than building one of their own. We are building a large charging footprint on a pan-India basis through our network of Nextgen Vakrangee Kendra Outlets,” the company said. “We believe that the electric vehicle space is a huge growth opportunity for the coming years and we want to be future-ready,” said Dinesh Nandwana, executive chairman, Vakrangee. 

Initially, 1,000 EV charging stations are earmarked for deployment through this EoI. These charging stations will be sanctioned to different states, cities, entities after evaluation of the proposals received...
Ministry of Heavy Industry

EVs a huge opportunity for India: Niti Aayog 

The electric vehicle segment is a big opportunity for Indian manufactures and they should look at not only producing such models for the domestic market but also exports, Niti Aayog Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant said. “Electric vehicles are a sunrise opportunity as India has over 72 per cent two-wheelers; our endeavour should be to make these electric..,” Kant said. The Niti Aayog has proposed that all two-wheelers smaller than 150cc be sold as fully electric variants after March 31, 2025