BELAGAVI: In a bid to bring the e-mobility revolution to India by 2030, the Union Government is focussing on increasing the sale of electric vehicles (EVs) across the country. The Centre, however, is yet to frame a policy, in this direction. But Karnataka, which already has a policy in place, has now started the process of identifying locations to set up EV charging stations.
The Karnataka government had introduced the Karnataka electric vehicle and energy storage policy in 2017.
After companies launched EVs, the electricity supply companies in the state have now started identifying land to set up the charging stations. The Hubballi Electricity Supply Company (HESCOM) has started searching for land to set up 100 EV charging stations in seven districts — Dharwad, Belagavi, Bagalkot, Vijayapura, Haveri, Gadag and Uttara Kannada.
HESCOM general manager (technical), in a letter to the chief engineers of seven districts, has asked them to identify the locations. One station requires approximately 1,000 sqft of land which can accommodate six charging units along with provisions to set up around 500 KVA DTC and other infrastructure.
Officials have also been told to search the locations adjacent to the main road in major localities for easy access. Initially, they had planned to set up 25 EV charging stations each in Habballi-Dharwad and Belagavi cities, 10 each in Bagalkot, Vijayapura, Gadag and Haveri cities and 5 stations each in Sirsi and Karwar cities.
SK Sakkari, MD, HESCOM, said, “It will take some time to set up all the units. But we are prepared to set up one EV charging station each in Hubballi-Dharwad and Belagavi cities and one in the road connecting Hubballi-Dharwad and Belagavi and they will open shortly.”