New Delhi State-run Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) is set to lease out its electric vehicle charging infrastructure operations across the country.
The company, which has installed more than 400 charging points, has floated a tender to operate the charging points at 1,800 locations in the future. Many existing charging points are being run by charging point operators.
The company plans to completely exit operations of its charging infrastructure.
An official aware of the development said that under the plan, the company will set up charging points and lease out operations at 1,800 locations.
“We have a tender open for 1,800 locations across the country. Earlier we were also working. Now we will not come into operation. We will provide the platform and people can come, because now the objective is resolved. Our aim was adoption,” the official said.
He added that the idea behind leasing is for EESL to act as an asset-light organization, now the business has grown with other participants coming in.
“A total of 30% of government vehicles should be EV by 2030. That in itself is a huge number. You need infrastructure to support it. Earlier the concern was how long a vehicle would travel after fully charging its battery; Now the concern has become about where one can charge and this is where business models are coming to the fore.”
Over the years, EESL has been developing electric vehicle charging infrastructure and has signed agreements with several stakeholders in municipalities to conduct local evaluation studies and set up charging infrastructure in its jurisdiction.
These include New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).
The official said the company will tie up with public sector units and other institutions to set up more EV charging stations.
He also added that with more and more EV charging infrastructure providers coming in, the company is looking at bringing an app that will allow consumers to avail services from any charging provider or charging station of their choice.
Queries sent to the company remained unanswered at press time.
Under the Centre’s National Mission on Electric Mobility, launched in March 2018, EESL has also procured 10,000 electric cars.
Till date, 1,514 e-cars have either been deployed or are under deployment in government organizations. These cars are leased or sold to replace existing petrol and diesel vehicles.
There are currently over 1 million EVs in India. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had recently said that this number will increase to 30 million in the next two years.