EV Charging Stations Must For New Houses in Chandigarh: UT Administration

The Administration of UT Chandigarh has been planning to build framing guidelines for installing the electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at every new house to be built in an area of 605 square yards or above in Chandigarh.

The UT administration is thinking about making it mandatory to have EV charging stations at new houses. A UT officer informed that the discussions have taken place and soon a detailed proposal would be submitted before the senior officers of the department.

To enhance EV adoption, the UT Transport Department has tied up with a private firm this February, to operate electric buses in the city from September this year. The UT will soon get a fleet of 40 non-polluting electric buses.

For the agreement, three companies had submitted bids to run 40 electric buses in the city. Out of them, being the lowest bidder, Ashok Leyland was granted the contract to run the environment-friendly electric buses for 10 years based on the kilometer scheme.

The bid included, all maintenance expenditure, bus charging stations, suspension, HVAC system, and major and minor repair of the buses during the period of the contract would be the responsibility of the successful bidder. Consequently, the department announced to pay Rs. 60 per km to the bidding company.

Earlier in June 2020, Indian Oil Corporation (IndianOil) had inaugurated its battery-swapping station for electric vehicles (EVs) at its retail outlet in Chandigarh in partnership with SUN Mobility.

The battery swapping facility, which is known as the Quick Interchange Station, was inaugurated by Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and VP Singh Badnore, Governor of Punjab & Administrator of UT-Chandigarh, at IndianOil’s fuel pump in Chandigarh.

Not only Punjab but the whole country is fastening the EV adoption day by day. Many states including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, among others have initiated giving subsidies/incentives on EV purchases in their respective states along with zero registration fees and tax exemptions. In fact, recently this Sunday, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, invited the corporate sector to raise awareness and promote electric vehicle policy in the national capital.

“The Delhi government aims to further capitalize on the positive response received from several sections and now we will involve corporates to be a part of the campaign. I appeal to this segment to switch to EV cabs to facilitate the travel of their employees,” Gahlot said.