Centre to add 137 EV charging stations on national highways

In addition to the seven existing WSAs with EV charging stations, the central government has budgeted for 137 more to be built on India's national highways, according to Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari. The rest stops will be built at regular intervals of 30-40 kilometres along Brownfield National Highways and Greenfield Expressways. According to reports, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is working on WSA for highways and expressways. EV charging stations are currently available at seven WSA facilities. Kurgaon-Allahabad Bypass on NH2, Gowravaram-Andhra Pradesh on NH 16, Vallur-Andhra Pradesh on NH176, Yedehalli-Karnataka on NH40, two in Jaipur, and one in Tamil Nadu are among the seven EV charging stations on national highways. According to data from the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), there are currently 43 Public Charging Stations (PCS) operating on 16 National Highways across the country. Since February 2021, the provision of e-vehicle charging stations has been made a mandatory facility across all Wayside Amenities sites to be developed. Also read: West Bengal seeks more investment in cement sector Coal India's seven projects to be developed by MDOs