Delhi Govt Agencies Begin Planning for Citywide EV Charging Network

All government agencies in Delhi will carry out a comprehensive planning exercise to identify locations for setting up public EV charging stations.

All government agencies in Delhi including the three MCDs, NDMC, DDA, PWD, transport department, DTC, DMRC, and DSIIDC will carry out a comprehensive planning exercise over the next two weeks to identify concessional locations within their jurisdictions for the purpose of setting up public electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.

Through this exercise, the Delhi government will roll out a coordinated strategy to setup 200 public charging and battery-swapping stations at prominent locations in the city. This was among the key decisions taken at the first meeting of the Charging Infrastructure Working Group of Delhi government that met on September 17, 2020, under the Chairmanship of Jasmine Shah, Vice Chairperson, Dialogue & Development Commission of Delhi.

“Delhi government will soon be rolling out financial incentives promised under the EV policy. By creating a Charging Infrastructure Working Group, the Delhi government has brought on board all the different agencies and DISCOMs of Delhi to initiate work on the accelerated rollout of charging infrastructure in a collaborative manner. This is critical to realising Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s vision of making Delhi the EV capital of India and among the top cities globally in terms of EV penetration,” said Shah.

It was agreed at the meeting that given the emphasis of the Delhi EV Policy on mass adoption of EVs in the two-wheeler and three-wheeler vehicle segments, the charging infrastructure should focus primarily on setting up a large number of slow-charging stations consisting of AC-001 charging points (3.3 kW each) and a limited number of DC-001 fast chargers (15 kW each), instead of setting up a few expensive fast-charging stations that cater primarily for premium four-wheelers.

Additionally, developing a wide network of battery-swapping stations was also identified as a key priority.

In addition to public charging stations, establishing charging facilities in restricted public spaces such as malls, office complexes, group housing societies, hotels, education institutions, hospitals were also identified as a priority at the meeting.

The move to install a citywide charging network follows up on the Delhi EV Policy 2020 which was notified last month by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The policy lays special emphasis on the accelerated rollout of public charging infrastructure as a key enabler in the rapid adoption of EVs in Delhi.

In our view, the planning committee established for the purpose of setting up the citywide network is a good move considering that nearly all government agencies have been put to the task of working together to achieve the collective goal. As with single agency driven programs, the timeline (for any reason) often seems to get stretched out.

An example of this is the program that was announced the induction of 1000 electric buses in the national capital last year, followed by another 1000 by 2021. However, not much – if any – progress has been in that program beyond the announcements. Recently, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot confirmed that the Centre has assured that subsidy will be provided for the 1,000 electric buses (e-buses) in the city, indicating that a lot of work still remains to be done before we see the buses on the roads.

Read: Delhi To Get 2000 Electric Buses & Charging Stations by 2021