The Karnataka government’s EV Expo in Bengaluru will kick off today to promote green energy and provide a promising atmosphere to promote EVs in the state. The “EV Abhiyaana” will be convened at Chamara Vajra, Palace grounds, in Bengaluru and will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday and will continue till July 3, according to BESCOM, which is the nodal agency to hold the expo in the city.
“To make Bengaluru as EV capital of the state, the Karnataka government has brought EV policy in 2017. The government has also nominated BESCOM as nodal agency to facilitate infrastructures for EV charging stations in the state,” a statement by BESCOM read.
On the eve of the expo, BESCOM announced that it has developed the EV Mitra app to provide details about charging stations in the city. Information regarding charging stations and rates is available in the app. “The EV Mitra App is user friendly, it will provide information on charging stations, rates, payment options and booking for charging,” BESCOM added in the release.
Further, to encourage EV mobility in the state, the government launched the EV Jagruthi web portal in a joint initiative from NITI Aayog and the United Kingdom (UK) government. “EV Jagruthi web portal is giving the state-specific information about e-mobility. It would also assist the users to switch to electric vehicles by providing insights about the state’s target, incentives, support mechanism and initiatives of the state government regarding electric mobility. It will also assist the users to assess the benefits of electric vehicles with uniquely designed tools to determine the users’ savings with electric vehicles compared to petrol/diesel vehicles,” BESCOM stated.
Users can get Karnataka-specific information on the electric vehicle market and industry, and key developments driving the e-mobility ecosystem forward. “EV Jagruthi Web Portal caters to the needs and priorities of a diverse set of stakeholders, early electric vehicle adopters, government, academia, the research community, industry, businesses house, and consultants,” the release informed. To promote electrical vehicles in the city, BESCOM has set up 136 charging stations. Besides, 152 new charging stations will be opened soon, BESCOM announced.
Under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, a tender has been invited to establish 1,000 charging stations across the state. The officials said that the expo will promote e-mobility by inviting industry leaders, stakeholders and users. “The primary objective of the expo is to understand the views of the industry so that new policies and programmes can be formulated. It will also provide a platform to showcase the latest technologies/solutions to the prospective customers and enable the public to witness the progress in the EV industry,” an official said.
The expo will accommodate more than 100 stalls for the display of products, solutions and technologies from various stakeholders from different parts of the world.
