Reliance Jio and British Petroleum to set up EV charging stations in India

Relaince's Jio and UK's British Petroleum (BP) has tied up with EV ride-hailing platform BluSmart to set up electric vehicle charging infrastructure in India. The Jio-BP joint venture will be setting up network of EV charging stations for passenger electric cars and two-wheelers in the next few years.

Jio-BP issued a statement that said, "Through this partnership, both companies will collaborate in planning, development and operation of EV charging infrastructure, at suitable locations across cities where BluSmart operates."

The statement also said that "with the first phase-roll out in the national capital region, these EV charging stations will be capable of accommodating a minimum of 30 vehicles at each station and will be concentrated in urban areas."

British Petroleum already has its set of EV charging network globally. Jio-BP aims to use BP's expertise in the matter and its learnings in electrification and apply them to the Indian market.

Harish C Mehta, Chief Executive Officer, Jio-BP said, "Leveraging BP's learnings from the UK with BP Pulse, where they have the country's largest EV charging network, from Germany through their Aral brand, Jio-BP intends to bring in the latest in EV technology to our consumers."

Anmol Jaggi, co-founder and CEO, BluSmart said, "BluSmart operates large EV charging superhubs powering the burgeoning EV fleet. Our partnership with Jio-bp is a true testament of our ability to provide world-class EV charging infrastructure solutions for India."

Jaggi said EV superhubs are the future of electric vehicle charging. He said it provides seamless charging access to both EV owners and ride-hailing fleets like BluSmart. BluSmart is an Indian EV ride-hailing startup which operates in Delhi NCR and aims to expand its network into other major cities across India.

Jio-BP also aims to expand its fuel retailing network to 5,500 over the next five years from the current network of just over 1,400 petrol pumps.