Essel to invest Rs1,750 cr to set up electric vehicle charging stations in UP
30 Jul 2018
Essel Infraprojects Ltd (EIL), an Essel Group company, plans to invest Rs1,750 crore to set up 250 electric vehicle charging stations and 1,000 battery swapping stations in 20 cities across Uttar Pradesh, in a phased manner.
Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra made the announcement during the foundation laying ceremony of EIL’s electric vehicle infrastructure by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lucknow. This was among different industrial projects worth over Rs60,000 crore announced during the mega launch of projects by Prime Minister Modi.
Essel Green Mobility Limited, launched by Modi at an event titled `Transforming Urban Landscape’ in Lucknow on Sunday (See: PM launches 81 projects worth over Rs60,000 cr in UP), aims to build charging stations for EVs in 20 Uttar Pradesh cities.
This new EV project will see an investment of Rs1,750 crore in a phased manner with a plan to launch 250 charging station and 1,000 battery swapping stations in 20 UP cities.
Essel expects the project to give a big boost to the overall EV ecosystem in the state. The company will also invest in deploying around 25,000 e-rickshaws, which will generate 50,000 jobs in the state.
The setting up of the charging infrastructure will help reduce the overall cost of battery charging and help in bringing it at par with CNG or any other alternative fuel. The project will also address the issue of last mile connectivity which has been a major stumbling block in local transport infrastructure.
EIL plans to set up battery swapping options at every 2 sq km, which will be supported by the digital APP, to enable drivers to locate the nearest swapping station. The battery can be swapped in 2-3 minutes increasing vehicle productivity for plying.
The operations will start from Ghaziabad and would cover other cities like Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Noida, Meerut, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Allahabad, etc.
Chandra said “With the launch of this initiative, we have enhanced our association with the state and look forward to doing our bit in the government’s vision of clean mobility. The launch of EVs in a holistic manner will augment the state’s transport infrastructure and also create job opportunities.”
This is in line with the central government’s National Electric Mobility Mission, which plans to have around 7 million electric and hybrid vehicles on road by 2030 under the plan.