To drive the electric vehicles (EVs) further in India, the CESC has informed about its plans to venture into EV power stations in Kolkata
The Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC) is looking at the possibility of starting electric vehicle charging stations in Kolkata. The power entity has been assessing the mechanism behind establishing and operating the power stations.
Debasish Banerjee, Managing Director, Distribution, CESC, informed that the company was working out a business model for electric vehicles as the state government was thinking of electric ferries and buses. He also said that cab facilities like Ola and Uber might also introduce electric cab services in the future. The MD added that initially EVs in India would be priced at a higher range and would gradually come down to cater to the public.
E-mobility in India
At the seminar on sustainable development organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry and The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI), Ajay Mathur, Director General of TERI spoke at length about the electric vehicle ecosystem in India. He said that lately the country had been engaged in the promotion of EVs, an initiative the government had taken up to curb rising pollution levels. He highlighted India’s programme called Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) and said that its first phase had helped in exploring the price ranges for the vehicles.
FAME I
FAME I had chosen 11 cities to offer a subsidy to buy electric vehicles on a pilot basis. It allowed for the outright purchase of EVs or getting the vehicles on a gross cost contract basis, which would, in turn, let a supplier operate and maintain the electric buses at a fixed cost per kilometre.
Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Jaipur had chosen the gross cost contract route and cities like Indore, Lucknow, Kolkata, Jammu and Guwahati opted for the outright purchase of EVs.
Charging infrastructure and catering to the supply of electric vehicles have posed as the major challenges in e-mobility in India. For a smooth functioning of India’s electric dreams, ensuring that the two issues are resolved will aid in accelerating the EVs in the country.
