EV charging points to come up at railway stations

To promote green vehicle, charging points to come up at railway stations

To promote electric vehicles, the Union Road Transport Ministry is in talks with the Railway Ministry to set up E-Vehicle charging points at railway stations across the country.

With railways having 7000 stations spread across the country, if charging point came up there, it would not only benefit to e-vehicle users but also railways as well said an official from the Ministry of Road Transport.

Begin with, railways is planning to set up e-vehicle charging units at New Delhi and Nizamuddin railway station parking areas in the national capital. For setting up charging points, railways will have an agreement with power distribution companies on revenue sharing basis for supplying electricity.

"Five each fast charging DC points, capable of charging 10 e-cars simultaneously, will be set up at New Delhi and Nizamuddin stations," said an official in the Railways.

Upon success of this project, the railways will work on expanding this to other places as well, said the official.

By setting up e-vehicle charging points, railways can contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emission, said the official in the national transporter.

Lack of charging points is seen as the main hurdle for the flourishing of electrical-vehicles in the country. Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, who is diligently pushing for e-vehicles, already in talks with the Petroleum Ministry to set up charging stations at petrol pumps.

By encouraging electric-vehicles, the NDA government planning to reduce the burden on oil imports.

To enable for booming of charging points, the Ministry of Power already clarified that there is no separate licence is required to set up charging points. Earlier there were confusion whether separate licence required for set up charging stations.