Bescom to Set Up 63 More EV Charging Stations Under PPP Mode

In a relief to electric vehicle owners, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Ltd decided to set up 63 charging stations under public-private partnership model, according to recent media reports.

Saying they have set up 136 EV charging stations — 106 AC and 30 DC chargers — in Bengaluru, in line with EV and energy storage policy, officials said the plan is to expand the current network. “A total of 63 stations will be set up in eight Bescom districts on premises owned by the utility,” an official said.

Karnataka has 2.7 crore vehicles, including 81,193 electric ones. Records show the number of EVs in the state increasing over the years, from 6,454 (in 2019) to 9,731 (in 2020) to 33,302 (in 2021). A total of 3,544 EVs have been registered in the state this year so far.

The charging stations will come up in Bengaluru Urban (10 locations), Bengaluru Rural (21), Ramanagara (7), Tumakuru (6), Kolar (7), Chikkaballapur (6), Davanagere (2) and Chitradurga (4).

In Bengaluru Urban, places such as Banashankari 2nd Stage, Uttarahalli hobli, Bannerghatta Road, Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Bheemajyothi Layout near West of Chord Road, Kaggalipura and Kengeri hobli will get these charging stations.

In the 2021-22 state budget, Bescom had proposed to set up more than 1,000 EV charging stations across Karnataka under PPP model. “The selected firms will establish, operate and maintain them for 126 months at these locations,” another official said. “The firms can install more units based on space availability and demand. Further, a maximum of one battery-swapping facility/kiosk can be installed based on demand/requirement.”

Bescom officials said the Karnataka EV policy envisages making Bengaluru the EV capital of India, besides attracting investments to the tune of Rs 31,000 crore and creating 55,000 new jobs by 2022.

Many EV owners have welcomed the move. “More stations will encourage more motorists to shift to environment-friendly, battery-run vehicles. Steps should be taken to set up charging infrastructure on highways. Bescom should install more signboards on roadsides about charging units so that motorists are able to use them,” said Abhishek S, an EV owner from Koramangala.

Bescom’s plan is to have a charging station every 5km in the city. EV users can download ‘Electree Fi’ app to locate the nearest facility, reserve a slot, and pay for charging session through cashless mode.