The Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science and Technology Promotion Society (CREST) ​​of the UT administration has requested the municipal corporation to allow installation of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and battery swapping stations at 44 parking lots in the city.

The civic body will table the agenda before the House for approval during the next meeting on July 25.

Aiming to enhance EV infrastructure in the city, CREST has written a letter to MC, stating, “EV charging stations and battery swapping stations should be installed wherever feasible in parking areas under the jurisdiction of MC based on the future need of increasing the number of EV vehicles. Post approval of the sites, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be signed between MC and CREST for smooth execution of the work of setting up EV charging stations across Chandigarh.”

“CREST has offered us 50% share in the revenue. We will place the agenda before the House for approval,” said MC commissioner Anindita Mitra.

Notably, the city has 89 parking lots that are divided into two zones. 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.

Notified in September 2022, the policy aims to mitigate the environmental impact caused by conventional vehicles and establish Chandigarh as a leading EV city.

Only eight charging stations in the city

Currently, Chandigarh has only eight charging stations with 48 charging points that were set up in 2018 under the Centre’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme.

Under the UT policy, EV owners charging their vehicles at home pay domestic power rates, while those charging at public stations are charged 8 per unit for slow or medium charging, 10 per unit for fast charging and 11 per unit for battery swapping.

The administration is in the process of upgrading these charging stations at a cost of 3.2 crore to lower the charging time. Following the upgrade, which is expected to take six months, an electric car will be fully charged in around 1 hour, compared to the current eight hours.

Similarly, electric two-wheelers that are currently charged in three hours at these stations will be ready for use in 18 minutes after the revamp.

As part of the EV policy, UT plans to increase the number of public charging stations to 100 by 2024. All petrol stations will have to set up EV charging stations. If there is insufficient space, owners will make necessary arrangements for installing the charging stations in the nearby parking area.

Incentives in place to promote EVs

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.

The incentive is available for EVs bought anywhere across the country, but only permanent residents of Chandigarh are eligible for it.