Delhi government to establish 100 EV charging stations by June 2022

EV owners will be charged under Rs 2/unit for charging their vehicle at Delhi govt’s charging stations compared to Rs 10-15/unit in other states.

71 out of the 100 sites are at metro stations.

New Delhi: To reduce vehicular pollution in the nation’s capital, Delhi government on Monday decided to establish 100 EV charging stations with 500 charging points in the next three months.

The charging stations will be open to the public by June 27, 2022. EV owners will be charged under Rs 2/unit for charging their vehicle, compared to Rs 10-15/unit in other states.

Power Minister Satyendar Jain and Dialogue and Development Commission (DDC) Vice Chairperson Jasmine Shah made the announcement here and said that the Delhi government has successfully awarded tenders for 500 charging points today.

The tender was floated by Delhi Transco Limited, the State Nodal Agency for setting up EV charging infrastructure in Delhi.

The bidding criteria was kept as the lowest service charge; users will be heavily incentivised because of the minus Rs 3.60/unit service charge that was discovered during the competitive bidding process.

DDC Vice Chairperson and Chairperson of the Delhi government’s Charging Infrastructure Working Group, Jasmine Shah, stated, “This was the largest tender of its kind in India, and it doubles the EV charging infrastructure of Delhi.”

To achieve the vision of CM Arvind Kejriwal to provide an EV charging station within a 3km range anywhere in Delhi, “We are targeting under-served areas of Delhi; outer Delhi will get charging stations on priority,” he said. 

In line with its vision to make Delhi the EV Capital of India, the Kejriwal government is significantly strengthening its EV infrastructure.

Taking about the government’s vision to make Delhi the EV capital of India, Satyendar Jain said, “Under the leadership of CM Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi has already emerged as the electric vehicle capital of India.”

He said last month, EVs contributed to more than 10 per cent of the total vehicle sales in Delhi.

The electric vehicle policy launched by the Delhi government last year aimed to develop electric charging stations for public use within 3 km of travel anywhere in the national capital.

“Towards this, Delhi Transco Limited (the state nodal agency) initiated a tender to establish 100 charging stations with 500 charging points at prime locations across Delhi. 71 of these stations will be established at metro stations, “he said.

Talking about the bidding process, he said the process was drafted in a PPP model. It has two distinguished areas where the government has contributed: first in providing land through different land-owning agencies; and second, in providing high-side infrastructure, including cabling and transmission. The smart charging stations, staff, and service would be provided by a private player.

He added, “The bidding criteria was kept at the lowest service charge so that consumers in Delhi get the best possible and competitively determined service charge while charging their electric vehicles.

12 bidders came forward for the tender, and the winning bid was at the rate of minus Rs 3.60/unit.

This means that instead of charging users for the service, they’ll be incentivised.

It is noteworthy that charging stations in Delhi up to a load of 22kW will run at a rate of Rs2/unit. Usually, cities charge upwards of Rs 10/unit for the same and even go as high as Rs 15/unit. The agreements for the charging stations will be finalised by April 8 and they’ll be operational by June 27, “he said.

Jasmine Shah said, “The location of all these charging stations has been chosen in a very cohesive manner.” There are about 400 charging points already in place in Delhi. This tender increases the number to over double our present infrastructure. “