The government of India has informed the Rajya Sabha that the work is undergoing to set up electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at 22,000 out of 70,000 petrol pumps in India. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Minister of Heavy Industries, said that the priority to set up EV charging stations would be at express highways, highways and populated cities. He added that the government under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India)-II scheme had directed the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) in Pune to develop a prototype for fast charging of the EVs. The aim is to introduce EV charging stations in the market by December 2022. Panday informed the House members that the work is ongoing to produce domestic lithium batteries to make India self-sufficient, and a production linked incentive (PLI) scheme of Rs 18,100 crore has been evolved. He said that Phase-II of FAME India is being implemented for five years with Rs 10,000 crore. Under the scheme, Rs 1,000 crore has been allocated for EV charging stations. He added that the Ministry of Environment is working on Battery Waste Management Rules 2019 to find waste management solutions and submit the report soon. Power Ministry has sanctioned 2,877 EV charging stations in 68 cities across 25 states and Union Territories and 1,576 charging stations in nine expressways and 16 highways under Phase-II of the FAME India scheme. As per the guidelines, a minimum of one EV charging station should be present every 25 km on both sides of the highway. For long-range and heavy-duty EVs, one EV charging station at every 100 km on both sides of the highways. In cities, one EV charging station should be present in a grid of 3 km by 3 km. Image Source Also read: CESL ties up with IIT Bombay to set up EV charging infrastructure Also read: GMDA to set up 42 new air purifiers in Gurugram to curb air pollution