EESL Planning to Bring EV Charging Station to Kolkata

EESL is in talks with the West Bengal government for setting up electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in Kolkata and adjoining New Town area.

State-owned Energy Efficiency Services Ltd. (EESL) has announced that it is in talks with the West Bengal government for setting up electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in Kolkata and adjoining New Town area. 

The New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA), the West Bengal Transport Department, Power Department and the Urban Development Department are involved in installing the proposed EV charging stations, officials said. 

“We are planning 400 public EV charging stations in the city and New Town. Soon, a deal with NKDA will be inked,” EESL Regional Head Sudeep Bhar said. “We require land for the EV stations at viable locations. We have submitted a proposal to carry out the capex and maintain the infrastructure for 10 years. There will be some revenue sharing with the landowner.”

A clear guideline for electricity cost of the charging stations is yet to be worked out, but talks are already in progress in this regard, the officials said. EESL has also given a proposal to the state government to supply electric sedans on lease. 

“There are two models we are offering. One is ‘dry lease’ at Rs 22,500 a month for a period of 6 years, and the other is for drivers, which will be about Rs 37,000 a month,” Bhar added.

Recently, EESL has signed a 10-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Ltd, to install public EV charging stations in its hospitals across India to boost e-mobility across the country.

Under the MoU, EESL will make the entire upfront investment on specified services and deploy qualified manpower for the operation and maintenance of the public charging infrastructure. Apollo Hospitals will provide the requisite space and power connections for the charging infrastructure.

Taking forward the vision of the National Electric Mobility Programme, EESL has so far commissioned 300 AC and 170 DC chargers across India, and also 55 public charging points which are currently operational in Delhi NCR. In the pursuit of increasing charging infra penetration, it has also partnered with Urban Local Bodies in Hyderabad, Noida, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Chennai, and is in discussion with others across India, i.e. Kolkata.