DTC begins setting up charging stations for commercial vehicles

In a bid to boost the adoption of electric vehicles in the city, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has started the process for setting up charging stations for commercial vehicles, including buses and trucks, at Okhla, Narela and Dwarka at a cost of around Rs 11 crore.

In order to set up charging stations at cluster bus depots at Dwarka Sector 22, Narela and Okhla, the DTC has floated tenders for engaging approved and eligible contractors registered with the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), Military Engineer Services (MES), Railways, PWD and other government agencies.

The work will involve installing and commissioning 1,600 KVA compact substations for supplying power to 240 KW EV chargers meant for commercial vehicles, including buses and trucks, a senior DTC officer said.

The move is aligned with the Delhi government’s plans to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles and to convert the entire public bus transport fleet into e-buses, in a bid to curb air pollution.

In November last year, the DTC started work on setting up charging infrastructure for commercial vehicles at nine of its bus depots at Rohini Sector 37, Keshopur, Nangloi, Kalkaji, Sukhdev Vihar, Nand Nagri, Ghazipur, and Hasanpur, according to a transport department officer.

Charging facilities for heavy commercial vehicles require high-powered direct current (DC) chargers. Private players are already expanding the infrastructure, and now the DTC is towing the line with an aim to transition its entire bus fleet to e-vehicles by the end of the year, officials said.