Govt looks at housing societies for land to set up charging stations for electric vehicles in Mumbai

“They have presented us with a wishlist of things to speed up the implementation (of the project),” Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta said.

Besides Mumbai, the Centre is planning to push the scheme’s rollout in Pune, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Surat. Expressways and important highways connected to these cities will also be covered under the project.

During the deliberations on Friday, the problem of land shortage for setting up charging infrastructure was reportedly taken up.

The state administration is also wary of commercial exploitation of portions of roads allotted for setting up such stations.

“There have been past instances where similar allotments along the roadside were misused,” a senior official said. Now the state has suggested that large housing societies can be encouraged to offer lands for setting up PCS in lieu of fiscal or construction incentives.

Earlier, the Centre had issued guidelines stating that establishing a PCS will not require a licence and that it can be set up by individuals or entities, provided they meet the standards drawn up by the power ministry and the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).

In 2018, Maharashtra cleared its own policy for promotion of EVs.

Later that year, Nagpur become India’s first city to get an EV charging station with a facility being erected at an Indian Oil petrol pump.

The state policy offers fiscal incentives for construction of the charging stations.

The state has already issued directives asking urban local bodies to promote setting up of EV-related infrastructure.