The West Bengal government said it intends to set up 1000 charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) within the next two years in order to encourage greater adoption of eco-friendly automobiles. People are not buying EVs because of high cost and lack of charging infrastructure, Power secretary S Suresh Kumar said.
“To clear confusion in the minds of people about EVs, we have partnered with a private agency to bring the EV Expo to Kolkata to spread awareness. We hope to set up 1000 charging stations in the next 2 years,” Kumar told reporters announcing that the 16th EV EXPO and an EV Rally will be held in Kolkata.
Oil companies have been given the mandate to set up the charging front-ends and the government should handle the backend like power, he said. The government has plans to set up one charging station in every 25 kilometres on four-lane highways and one charging station within a three square kilometres in urban areas. In state owned utility WBSEDCL had invited bids for 205 EV charging stations.
About the EV Expo, the official said that around 100 Indian & international exhibitors, including Hyundai, Tata Motors and Exide Industries will be showcasing their products. The West Bengal government, in association with EV Expo is organising an EV Rally. The rally will witness the participation of 720 EV drivers and 3300 plus EV passengers.
Electric Vehicle Federation president Anuj Sharma said they had a dialogue with the state government to create an industrial development zone like EV Park that will have manufacturers of various accessories/parts of EVs in the same area.
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