Delhi govt approves single-window facility to facilitate expansion of EV charging infra

New Delhi: The Delhi government on Monday approved a single-window facility to facilitate the rapid expansion of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles at private and semi-public places like apartments, group housing societies, hospitals, malls and theatres in the national capital.

The decision was taken during a meeting of the Delhi government’s Charging Infrastructure Working Group chaired by Jasmine Shah, vice chairman of Dialogue and Development Commission.

”The Delhi govt has approved an innovative, single-window process for quick and efficient installation of EV chargers. This is in response to requests we have been receiving especially from apartment societies, RWAs, mall owners among others,” Shah said.

The single-window facility can be used for rapid installation of thousands of EV chargers at apartments and group housing societies, institutional buildings like hospitals and commercial spaces like malls and theatres, Shah said.

”Delhi will soon be the only city in the world where anyone can get an EV charger installed and get government subsidy by making a single phone call or applying online,” he said.

The power discoms will empanel vendors for installation of two slow charging standards (Light EV AC and AC 001) and one fast-charging standard (DC 001), and providing Delhi government subsidy to the consumer and meter installation based on EV tariff, said an official statement.

Sajid Mubashir, who heads the Union government’s committee on EV charging standards, apprised the working group on the status of low-cost AC and DC charger standards for light electric vehicles.

He said the standards are in the final stages of approval with the prototypes ready for deployment and that the upcoming low-cost smart AC chargers for EVs will cost as little as Rs 3,500 when commercially produced, the statement said.

Representatives of discoms in the meeting presented the roll-out plan to the working group which would enable any resident of Delhi to request installation of a charger at their premises either through their online portal or by making a phone call.

The roll-out plan includes disbursal of a grant of 100 per cent for the purchase of charging equipment up to Rs 6,000 per charging point for the first 30,000 charging points, as per the mandate of the Delhi Electric Vehicle policy, it said.

The working group approved the roll-out plan to be implemented across Delhi by August 2021, it added.