Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said the Government has taken a lead across India in installing sound charging infrastructure in Delhi for a smooth transition to “Electric Vehicles” (EVs).
The Government has adopted a three-pronged strategy to make the campaign more effective. “The Delhi Government is leaving no stone unturned to ensure a smooth transition to EVs for the Delhiites. The vision of the Kejriwal Government to establish a charging point at a distance of every 3kms will increase confidence in people to make the switch to EV and pave the way for making Delhi the EV capital of India,” he said.
The fifth week of the Delhi Government’s Switch Delhi campaign focused on raising awareness among people about the sound EV charging infrastructure in the city.
Elaborating on the three pillars of the strategy to expand Electric Vehicle charging infrastructure in Delhi, Gahlot said, “First, Delhi Government has floated the largest tender in India so far to build 100 public charging stations with 500 charging points at prominent locations. These will be operational by December 2021 and will add to the existing 72 stations already operational in Delhi.
“Delhi will soon have more than 10,000 chargers by December. All commercial and institutional buildings such as malls, shopping complexes, cinema halls/multiplexes, office spaces, hotels, restaurants, hospitals, etc that have a parking capacity of more than 100 vehicles will soon have to set aside at least five per cent of their total parking capacity for EVs along with suitable slow EV chargers. A suitable amendment in Delhi’s building bye-laws has already been initiated to enable this. At present, 20 per cent area in parking facilities already have to be kept aside for EV parking in all new constructions under unified building bylaws for Delhi,” he said.
Gahlot further said “We are in advance talks with several EV fleet operators to open up their captive charging stations for public use. This is a win-win proposition since it allows EV cab and rickshaw operators to get better utilisation and returns from their investment into EV charging infrastructure. This will add another 750 charging points at least for public use in Delhi by June 2021,”