Bhubaneswar: The Union Ministry of Heavy Industries has approved the setting up of 18 Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations in the state capital. It is a part of the project in which 2,877 EV charging stations will come up in 68 cities belonging to 25 states/UTs. This is a part of Phase II of the FAME India scheme. In addition, the ministry has also approved the setting up of 1,576 EV charging stations along 16 highways and nine expressways as part of this phase.
There are 44 EV charging stations along the Kolkata-Bhubaneswar highway and 120 EV charging stations along the Chennai-Bhubaneswar highway at present.
As per the guidelines issued by the ministry, there should be at least one charging station every 25 kilometres on both sides of the highway, and at least one charging station for long range/heavy duty EVs every 100 kilometres on both sides of the highway. In the city, at least one charging station will be installed in a 3km x 3km grid.
Under Phase-I, the Ministry of Heavy Industries sanctioned approximately 520 charging stations/infrastructure worth approximately Rs 43 crore.
A budget provision of Rs 1,000 crore has been made for the establishment of charging infrastructure under Phase-II of the FAME India scheme over a five-year period (2019-20 to 2023-24).
Krishan Pal Gurjar, Minister of State for Heavy Industries, provided this information in a written reply to the Lok Sabha today.