To increase EV charging points, Delhi govt asks malls, hotels to reserve space

Taking forward its initiative to turn Delhi into India’s ‘EV capital’, the Delhi government has taken steps to increase EV charging stations across the national capital. In the latest move, the government has asked commercial buildings like malls and hotels to reserve some space in their parking lots to set up charging facilities for electric vehicles.

The state’s Power Minister Satyendar Jain has asked all buildings like malls, hospitals, hotels and office spaces with parking facilities for more than 100 vehicles to reserve at least five per cent of the area to install EV charging points.

This could help increase the number of public EV charging points in the national capital quite substantially. According to a government official, Delhi will have more than 10,000 charging points for electric vehicles by December.

The Delhi government official was quoted by news agency PTI saying, "Power Minister Satyendra Jain has directed all buildings such as malls, shopping complexes, cinema halls, multiplexes, office spaces, hotels, restaurants and hospitals that have a parking capacity of more than 100 vehicles to set aside at least 5 per cent of it for EVs along with suitable slow EV chargers."

He also said that the malls, hotels, hospitals and office spaces approached by the government will be given time till the end of this year to implement the proposal.

The initiative is part of the state government’s ‘Switch Delhi’ campaign that was launched last month by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. Delhi is also one of the first states to come up with a comprehensive electric vehicle policy to promote e-mobility.

The state, which often grapples with high level of pollution, has been trying to promote cleaner vehicles on road. Starting with the odd-even scheme, the government has now turned its focus to electric mobility. As number of cars per person has almost doubled in the last decade, it has become more important for the state government to reign in rising pollution.

To show the way, the Delhi Government has decided to convert all vehicles owned or leased by it and switch them with electric vehicles only by August 6, 2021.

According to the state government, Delhi currently has 72 electric vehicle charging stations, the highest among all the cities in India. The government aims to take the numbers up to 500 in the 6 months. The Delhi government recently said it aims to set up one EV charging station for every three kilometres.

(With inputs from agencies)