India’s oil companies to set up 7,432 EV charging stations

India’s oil manufacturing companies or OMCs will soon be setting up 7,432 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. The Ministry of Heavy Industries will provide subsidy of Rs 800 crore for setting up of Combined Charging System (CCS) – II EV fast charger and not for CHArge de MOve (CHAdeMO).

 

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New Delhi, March 28: In a big boost to India’s electric vehicle infrastructure, domestic public sector undertaking oil companies will soon be setting up 7,432 EV charging stations with the support of a Rs 800 crore subsidy transfer by the Ministry of Heavy Industries.

The new charging stations will supplement the existing 6,586 public EV charging stations in the country. The subsidy, however, will be offered for setting up of Combined Charging System (CCS) – II EV fast charger and not for CHArge de MOve (CHAdeMO). CCS and CHAdeMO both use different types of plugs for EV charging. The CHAdeMO was designed by primarily for Japanese carmakers while the CCS followed European ones.

The new EV charging stations will deploy both fast as well as slow chargers. This subsidy grant from the government will help Oil Manufacturing Companies (OMCs) achieve their mission of setting up 22,000 EV charging stations across the country by 2024. Minister of Heavy Industries Mahendra Nath Pandey has said that the new charging stations will be deployed at roughly Rs 1,000 crore of which 80% will be subsidised through the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) Phase II.

This amount will be released to Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) for the installation and commissioning of upstream infrastructure and charging equipment of EV public charging stations at fuel retail outlets in the country. The Minister has also said these companies have committed to set up the charging stations by the end of the fiscal 2023-24.