Central Ministry Sanctions 2,636 Charging Stations Across 62 Cities In India

In a move to push towards clean and electric mobility, the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises has approved the sanction of 2,636 charging station across 62 cites in the country.

The Ministry sanctioned the charging stations in 62 cities that were submitted by 19 public entities under the Phase Two of FAME India (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India) scheme.

The 2,636 public charging stations will be installed across 24 States and Union Territories across the country. According to the Ministry, 317 electric vehicles charging stations have been allotted for Maharashtra.

In addition, 266 for Andhra Pradesh, 256 for Tamil Nadu, 228 for Gujarat, 205 for Rajasthan, 207 for Uttar Pradesh, 172 for Karnataka, 159 for Madhya Pradesh, 141 for West Bengal, 138 for Telangana, 131 for Kerala, 72 for Delhi, 70 for Chandigarh, 50 for Haryana, 40 for Meghalaya, 37 for Bihar, and 29 charging stations have been allotted for Sikkim.

In addition, 25 charging stations each have been allotted for Jammu and Srinagar, 20 for Assam, 18 for Odisha, and 10 each for Pondicherry, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh.

Of the total 2,636 charging stations, 1,633 charging stations will be fast-charging stations and 1,003 will feature regular charging stations.

The Ministry's statement read, "By installing all these charging stations, it is expected that at least one charging station will be available in most of the selected cities in a grid of 4 kilometers by 4 kilometers, which will boost the confidence of users of electric vehicles in terms of range anxiety."

The Ministry feels that this move will encourage manufacturers to launch more electric vehicles in the country. Auto makers are holding back an entry in to the electric markets because of lack of charging infrastructure among other reasons.

The Ministry also said that sanction letters will be issued in phases to entities that have been selected, after confirming availability of land for the charging stations. In addition, necessary agreements with concerned parties have to be signed.

Mr Amitabh Kant, the Chief Executive Officer at the Government's think tank, the NITI Aayog, took to Twitter saying this was a big move.

In related news, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari announced in December that the government was considering building e-Highways that would feature charging stations.

The government is in the process of building a 12 lane expressway between Delhi and Mumbai and feel it is a great idea to make only the first ten kilometers (in Gurugram) an e-highway.

Thoughts About The 2,636 Charging Stations Sanctioned Across 62 Cities In India

This is something the government should have started with before announcing they wanted to move toward clean mobility. They've wasted a few years trying to push electric mobility via the FAME schemes. By our calculations (and we could be wrong) it will take the government at least five years to achieve setting up all 2,636 charging stations.

And what's the point of calling it an e-highway when you've decided to make only the first 10 kilometers of an expressway electric. Kind of misses the point by a whole continent. That's the Union Minister for you, entertaining as always.