Operator for EV charging stations to be hired through centralised tendering system

new delhi: Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot on Monday held a meeting to discuss the identification of potential locations for setting up Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure in Delhi. Land sites owned by government departments/agencies will be scouted for this purpose.

During the meeting, Gahlot emphasised on building an effective EV infrastructure across the city for faster uptake of Electric Vehicles (EVs).

"Delhi has the distinction of having the maximum number of different land-owning agencies. We understand how crucial making an EV-friendly ecosystem is to the effective implementation of this policy, and I am happy to note that all these land-owning agencies are aligned to the Delhi Government and our CMs vision of Delhi as the EV capital of India. Our working group is already working diligently on identifying probable locations for installing charging infrastructure, and in the next few weeks, we are confident of having a final list of locations where charging stations would come up", Gahlot said.

Senior officials from Transport Department, Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.(HPCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Ltd.(DIMTS) and Delhi Transco Ltd. (DTL) attended the meeting.

The Delhi EV Policy, 2020 targets 25 per cent of all new vehicle registrations by 2024 to be Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs). In order to encourage the rapid adoption of electric vehicles, the government is focusing on the speedy rollout of Electric Vehicle charging infrastructure in Delhi. For the installation of EV charging stations, a centralised tendering system will be adopted to hire an energy operator to run, maintain and upgrade charging stations. The land-owning agencies will be required to provide land for the installation of public EV charging stations.

The first meeting of the 'Working Group on Accelerated Rollout of Charging Infrastructure in Delhi' was held in September. In this meeting, members had agreed that Delhi Transco Limited (DTL) as the State Nodal Agency for EVs, will pool government land parcels and integrate a state-wise tender to install charging stations across Delhi. Simultaneously, DTL and Delhi DISCOMS will also conduct a joint survey of the land parcels to identify sites for Priority 1 of the tendering process.