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EV stations in parking lots: MC not on board, but Chandigarh admn pushes ahead with installation
On September 19, Chandigarh administration had given MC three days to allocate space for the charging stations, but the civic body continues to remain silent
With the resistant Chandigarh municipal corporation not acting on the three-day deadline given on September 19 to allocate space for electric vehicle charging stations in its 44 parking lots, the UT administration has gone ahead and started the installation work to strengthen public charging infrastructure in the city.
Work began after the approval of UT administrator Bawarilal Purohit last week. UT has proposed to offer MC 50% revenue collected from the charging stations in exchange for the space that will allow visitors to charge their vehicle while it is parked.
Meanwhile, the civic body, which has been relentlessly opposing the plan, is set to take up the matter in the upcoming House meeting on October 17. As per MC officials, installation has begun in parking lots along Madhya Marg.
“The MC House had previously opposed the installation as it will cut short the parking space in the already congested areas. We will take the final call in the October 17 meeting,” said an MC official, familiar with the matter.
At loggerheads since July
The MC-UT stand-off on the matter has been going on since July, when UT’s Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science and Technology Promotion Society (CREST) had first requested MC to allow installation of EV charging stations and battery swapping stations at 44 parking lots in the city.
But in the July 25 House meeting, the councillors had rejected the agenda, stating that instead of 50% revenue, CREST should have offered 100% revenue to MC, as it is their space and revenue loss will be faced if the space allotted for parking will be used for setting up charging stations.
“Also, UT had not sought recommendations from the House before drafting the Electric Vehicle policy,” the councillors and mayor Anup Gupta had said.
Subsequently, through an official letter on August 28, the UT local body department had said, “Allot space in the paid parking lots to install the EV charging stations, as per the UT’s EV policy. Also, you are directed to send the compliance report within 10 days, as per the directions given by the administration under Section 405 of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976, as extended to the Union territory of Chandigarh.”
The notice had clearly mentioned that it has been sent with the approval of the UT administrator. However, MC remained silent.
Subsequently, UT issued a reminder notice on September 19, in which the UT local body department wrote, “The civic body is again requested to expedite and send the complete requisite compliance report in the matter within a period of three days positively to process the case further.”
The mayor and MC commissioner Anindita Mitra were not available for a comment on Sunday. CREST officials also did not provide a response in the matter.
Notably, the city has 89 parking lots that are divided into two zones, of which UT plans to install EV charging stations in 44. Zone 1 comprises parking lots in the southern and eastern sectors, including Sectors 20, 26 and 34. Meanwhile, Zone 2 includes northern areas, such as Sectors 7, 8, 9, 17, 22 and Sukhna Lake.
CREST is the nodal agency for implementing UT’s EV policy, aimed at making Chandigarh a “Model EV City” by achieving zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) among all Indian cities by the end of the five-year policy period.
UT had rolled out its EV Policy in September 2022, applicable for five years, during which it plans to gradually stop registering fuel-run vehicles to dissuade people from buying vehicles that cause pollution.
The policy aims to mitigate the environmental impact caused by conventional vehicles and establish Chandigarh as a leading EV city.
To promote EVs, the administration has waived registration fee and road tax for five years, while owners of vehicles running on conventional fuels have to pay both.
Also, an incentive ranging from ₹3,000 to ₹2 lakh is being offered for up to 42,000 vehicles of different categories, including 25,000 e-cycles, 10,000 e-bikes and 3,000 e-cars, purchased between September 20, 2022, and September 19, 2027.
Admn under fire
Despite its vigorous push to promote electric vehicles in the city, the administration has been under criticism for not ensuring public charging infrastructure to make adoption of EVs viable.
The eight charging stations, comprising 48 charging points, installed in the city in 2018 under Centre’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme, were quite slow in charging and are currently undergoing upgrade.
While this upgrade is not expected to complete before year end, UT has also failed to get another set of 23 charging stations, installed in November 2022, up and running.
As a result, owners of over 7,600 electric vehicles (EVs), registered in the city over the past five years, are forced to rely on home electricity before heading out on their commute.
Despite not having public charging infrastructure in place, on October 7, the UT administration put an immediate stop on registration of non-electric two-wheelers after the annual target of such vehicles permitted in 2023 under the EV policy was met.
Now, until April 2024, the Registering and Licensing Authority (RLA) will register only electric two-wheelers, leaving buyers and automobile dealers in a fix.
Similarly, in the case of fuel-run four-wheelers, new registrations will not be done after their number reaches 15,465 that RLA expects will happen by November.
