The Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) in India has sanctioned a budget of Rs 1,000 crore under Phase II of the FAME India scheme to expand EV charging infrastructure in the country. The allocated funds will be utilized to develop 1,576 charging stations for EVs on 9 expressways and 16 highways across the country.
Also, the ministry has claimed to sanction 2,877 EV charging stations in 68 cities across 25 states and UTs under the same Phase II scheme. For Phase I, the MHI had sanctioned around 520 charging infrastructures with an allocated budget of Rs 43 crore.
For executing the Phase II scheme, the Ministry of Power has released a blueprint describing various parameters following which the EV charging infrastructure will be developed. The guideline says that there shall be at least one charging station every 25kms on both sides of the proposed highways. To cater for the need for heavy-duty EVs, one charging station should be set up every 100kms. Within cities, each charging booth will serve an area grid of 3km x 3km.
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The charging infrastructure will be developed and managed by state-funded organizations including – Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), and Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Limited (REIL).
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Krishan Pal Gurjar, the Minister of State of Power and Heavy Industries said, “A budget provision of Rs. 1000 Crore has been earmarked for a period of 5 years [2019-20 to 2023-24] for the establishment of charging infrastructure under Phase-II of FAME India Scheme.”
