MGC to rope in automobile firms for installing EV charging stations in Gurugram

Gurugram: The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) is planning to rope in automobile manufacturing companies in the city to install charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) outside their premises, said the officials on Tuesday

Gurugram: The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) is planning to rope in automobile manufacturing companies in the city to install charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) outside their premises, said the officials on Tuesday.

Gurugram, India - January 28, 2022: A view at India's largest Electric 4 wheelers charging station with 100 fast charging points by National Highways for Electric Vehicle, at Sector 52, in Gurugram, India, on Friday, January 28, 2022. (Photo by Vipin Kumar/Hindustan Times) **Story pics for Abhishake Behl**

On Monday, MCG commissioner Mukesh Kumar Ahuja directed the MCG officials to schedule a meeting to discuss the matter with the officials of the vehicle manufacturing companies at the earliest. They held a meeting on Monday over the “increasing charging station facilities for EVs” under ‘Project Parivartan’.

Project Parivartan has been launched with an aim to promote the use of electric autorickshaws in the city by replacing diesel and petrol autos, in accordance with a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order which states that diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years cannot ply in the national capital region (NCR). EV makers, scrap dealers, charging station installers, and bank representatives set up stalls in the camp.

MCG public relation officer (PRO) Satyabir Singh Rohilla said that the manufacturers can use their corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds under this plan, to install EV charging stations for the current transitional phase. “A station for charging three EVs, including three-wheelers, will cost around ₹1 lakh. During the meeting with the manufacturers, it will be decided if these EV charging stations will charge for the service or be free of cost initially,” said a senior MCG authority privy to the matter, requesting anonymity.

Rohilla also said that Ahuja has directed the officials to set up camps at all 18 autorickshaw stands in Gurugram where each EV manufacturer can display their three-wheeler EV models daily, in a rotational basis, for encouraging the owners and the drivers to switch to the battery-operated next generation vehicles.

Harbhajan Singh, chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Haryana chapter, for ‘Ease of Doing Business’, said that the MCG should ask the companies concerned to install EV charging stations at autorickshaw stands and near Metro stations on a large scale, instead of installing those outside their premises.

Singh also said that all the companies would have to install EV charging stations on their premises for their own employees, who will switch to EVs in the near future. “The firms will have to expend their CSR funds, but it would be better if they utilised it as such that a large number of EV users could be benefitted,” said Singh , who retired as board director ofHonda (two-wheelers) in 2020.

Many such companies are located in secluded areas across Gurugram, and an autorickshaw owner or a common man would not prefer travelling several kilometres for merely charging their EVs.

Meanwhile, the authorities said Ahuja has also directed his officials concerned to earmark more places for installing EV charging stations, in addition to the existing three stations located at Sector 27 community centre, sectors 29 fire station, and MCG office in Sector 42.

Ahuja has also directed the MCG officials to hold meetings with the owners of commercial buildings, malls, and fuel stations at the earliest so that they can set up EV charging stations within their infrastructure. He has told the civic body officials to expedite the processing of 380 applications for purchasing three-wheeler EVs, which were acquired during a special camp which started in the city on March 10, according to the officials.

“The commissioner directed that all the 380 applications should be disbursed loans, and be supplied with the EVs as soon as possible, so that other autorickshaw owners also feel the need to do the same at the earliest. He also aims to avoid the situation where the owners might decide to purchase compressed natural gas (CNG) three-wheelers,” said a MCG official, requesting anonymity.