EV Charging Centre campaign between June 23 and 30 to see more stations set up

There are over 1,000 EV charging stations in the State, 136 under Bescom

To encourage citizens to adopt more Electric Vehicles (EV), the Energy Department will conduct an EV Charging Centre campaign in the State between June 23 and 30. While there are over 1,000 EV charging stations in the State, the department aims at installing 3,000 stations. The Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Ltd. (Bescom), which currently has 136 charging stations across its jurisdiction, also plans to increase the number to 200 charging stations in a month.  

This campaign was announced by Energy Minister V. Sunil Kumar during the launch of ‘EV Jagruthi’ (Electric Vehicle Awareness), a web portal as a one-stop space to provide all the information related to EV adoption in the State. The portal has been developed by the government in a joint initiative with NITI Aayog and the UK government. The ‘Roadmap for transformation of Bengaluru to a Global EV Lighthouse City’ was also released during the event. 

The web portal will provide users with insight about State’s target, incentives and other EV-related initiatives, the EV industry and market of the State and will also help them to assess the benefits of EVs and the savings they can incur when compared to petrol or diesel vehicles. “The EV Jagruthi web portal caters to the needs and priorities of a diverse set of stakeholders, including but not limited to future electric vehicle users, early electric vehicle adopters, government, academia, the research community, industry, business houses and consultants,” Bescom officials said.  

The report launched mainly looks at attracting investments worth ₹31,000 crore, creating job opportunities for 55,000 people and reducing 85.58 tonnes of net carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 in the State. Explaining why Bengaluru has the potential to become a Lighthouse City, Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India, said, “What India does over the next generation determines what happens in the world in terms of sustainability. Karnataka is going to become wealthier over the years with its growing GDP. In India, especially in Karnataka, Britain is excited to participate in EV adoption.” 

Speaking at the sidelines of the event, Energy Minister V. Sunil Kumar said that a proposal has been given to the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DAPR) to provide electric vehicles to all the offices under the Energy Department. He added that the same matter has also been brought to the Chief Minister’s attention.

“As the cost of EVs are more than petrol/diesel vehicles, we have still not gotten approval from DAPR. It is our priority to use EVs and after the approval. EVs will be used in all our offices,” he said.