BESCOM to set up 140 EV chargers in next six months

The Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) told the media that it will add 140 EV chargers in the upcoming six months. BESCOM managing director, P Rajendra Cholan in a statement said that tenders are invited to establish 1,000 EV charging stations in Karnataka state in a PPP model. There are seven smart cities in the state of Karnataka and it is envisaged to concentrate almost 50% of these stations in the smart cities with Bengaluru comprising nearly 150 stations. The other stations are uniformly allocated across the state in every district headquarters and on highways. They have involved other discoms in coordinating this activity locally to identify the locations and faster implementation of the project. BESCOM is currently operating 136 EV chargers in Bengaluru city. In March, the Department of Heavy Industries via the FAME Scheme Phase-2 sanctioned 172 EV charging stations to the state, and Bengaluru city had been allocated 152 charging stations. BESCOM executed MoUs with the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Rajasthan Electronics and Instruments Limited (REIL) for the installation of these charging stations across Bengaluru City. Aligning with the state government EV and energy storage policy, an electric vehicle cell was set up as a single-window agency for charging infrastructure-related matters. Image Source Also read: Tata Motors to strengthen its R&D capabilities with fresh hiring