Talks on card to set up electric vehicle charging facility in petrol pumps in city

Kolkata: The state Transport department will soon hold talks with the West Bengal Petroleum Dealers' Association to examine the feasibility of setting up infrastructure for electric vehicle charging in petrol pumps in the city and its adjoining areas.

The Transport department presently has 80 e-buses that are operational in different routes in the city and its adjoining areas and plans are on to introduce 50 more buses in the next six months.

"We have set up charging points at some of our depots for in house charging of these e buses. But we need to build an ecosystem of EV charging to encourage people in the city to use electric vehicles. We are exploring options about how to set up such infrastructure. Our plan is to collaborate with the Petroleum Dealers' Association so that a charging station can be set up in petrol pumps where space is available, " said Prabhat Kumar Mishra, Principal Secretary of the state Transport department. The West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) has set a target of fully electrifying its fleet of buses by 2030, which would entail 5,000 e-buses in operation.

West Bengal Housing & Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco) has already taken significant strides in its way forward for developing e vehicle charging stations. Hidco on Wednesday launched a bank of 25 EV chargers where 25 EVs can park side-by-side and get charged together in FinTech Hub of New Town, adjoining the site of a proposed multi-storied car parking plaza.

The EV chargers have been set up on a PPP mode and all commissioning and operating costs will be by M/s Lithium's JV on a revenue-sharing basis with Hidco on units of power actually sold.

From 2018, Hidco has been operating three air-conditioned electric buses across New Town in order to create better intra-city communication. So far about 3 lakh passengers have availed of the e-Buses.

There are 10 low speed chargers for e-Rickshaws of New Town and many of these are helping the Totos/ e-Rickshaws in earning their livelihoods by providing a mechanism for

topping up charge on the batteries while waiting in stand for passengers. There are 10 high speed chargers meant for 4-wheeler EVs in various parking zones.