Centre plans one EV station for every 69,000 petrol pumps: Nitin Gadkari

As part of the push towards e-mobility, the government now plans to set up more electric vehicle charging points across the country. Minister for Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said that the Centre plans to set up at least one EV charging station for every 69,000 petrol pumps to push people to use more electric vehicles in future.

Gadkari was addressing a virtual conference when he revealed the plan, saying it aims to speed up the uptake of electric vehicles in the country. During the conference, Gadkari also reminded of the Centre's steps to promote electric vehicles.

"Battery charging ecosystem is very important...government is planning set up at least one electric vehicle charging kiosk at around 69 thousand petrol pumps across the country to induce people to go for electric mobility," the minister was quoted as saying in a release.

The government has recently decided to reduce GST on electric vehicles to 5 per cent, besides delinking the battery cost of two- and three-wheelers from the overall cost of the vehicles. The step helps to bring down the total cost by almost 30 per cent.

Gadkari had earlier said that the government aims to make India the global manufacturing hub for automobile in the next five years. He had said, "The future is very bright and India has the potential to become the largest Electric Vehicle (EV) market in the world as the government continues to push for EV adoption."

Gadkari had also suggested that EV manufacturers should keep cost of electric vehicles down to attract more buyers and forfeit profit for the time being to reap the benefits later. He had said, "Reducing cost may result in some losses initially, but will bring great benefits. As a marketing strategy you have to reduce the cost to get numbers."

Not only the Centre, some of the state government have also taken the lead to promote electric vehicles in order to bring down vehicular pollution and go for clean energy. The Delhi government has recently implemented its own electric vehicle policy where it doles out incentives to EV buyers. Similarly, the Telangana and Gujarat government also have electric vehicle policies of their own.