Delhi govt, CESL join hands to offer subsidized EV loan, installation of charging stations

For the installation of Electric Vehicle charging stations, the Delhi government signed a pact with the Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) on January 19. The charging stations and battery swapping stations for electric two, three, and four-wheelers will be at cluster bus depots of its Transport Department.

As per sources, each charging and battery swapping facility will be installed at 14 locations. Each will include six charging points, three of which will be for two and three-wheelers while three points will be meant for four-wheelers. Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the Transport department, the CESL has agreed to procure, install, operate and maintain charging units and related infrastructure at its cost and expense, said a Transport department statement. The charges for usage of location will be paid by CESL to Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) every month at the rate of Re 1 per kWh of energy dispensed, it said.

If the space required by the concessionaire is more than 3 ECS (Equivalent Car Space) then Rs 2,000 extra would be levied per ECS per month. Initially, the contract period is of 10 years, it said. According to the MoU, the CESL will start the work immediately and will finish the installation of all stations in the next four months. The location assessment survey at various DTC cluster bus depots at Rani Khera-I, Rani Khera-II, Rani Khera-III, Rajghat, Dilshad Garden, Seema Puri, Bawana Sec-1, Bawana Sec-5, Kanjhawala, Kair, Dichaon Kalan, Dwarka Sec-22, Rewla Khanpur, and Chhatarpur have been identified jointly by the department and EESL for setting up of the facility.

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The real-time status and availability of charging points will also be available on the ONE DELHI app, once installation work is complete. The CESL will also reduce carbon footprint and wherever feasible, will integrate solar rooftop and Battery Storage systems (BSS) with the installation of charging infrastructure, to use renewable energy to power the charging stations, the statement added.

Further, the agreement says that a 5 percent interest subvention on loan for the purchase of electric rickshaws, autos, carts, and light goods vehicles will be provided. This interest subvention scheme will help not just individual buyers but also the fleet owners deploying vehicles for e-commerce, grocery, or delivery industry, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Vinod Kumar Yadav, Deputy Commissioner, Delhi Transport department, and Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) representative Polash Das, in the presence of Gahlot and other senior officers of the department. The 5 percent interest subvention on loans on the purchase of electric vehicles of the particular category will be in addition to the purchase incentive of Rs 30,000 and scrapping incentives of up to Rs 7,500 provided under the Delhi EV Policy, the Transport department said in a statement.

Currently, the rate of interest on EVs varies from 25-30 percent for some vehicle segments which makes owning an electric vehicle a cost-intensive proposition, it said. To ensure a transparent and smooth process to pass on the benefits to the consumers the online portal will be launched soon for buyers to avail options to choose from several empanelled models of lithium-ion battery-operated electric three-wheelers including e-autos, e-rickshaws, e-carts, and light goods carriers.

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Under this partnership, the CESL will empanel scheduled banks, non-banking financial institutions, and micro-financing institutions through an open and transparent process to provide loans to electric vehicles at attractive terms, it said. "The empanelled financial institutions will provide loans with a minimum 80 percent loan-to-value at interest rates of a maximum of 20 percent (including the interest subvention) for a loan tenure which is in the best interest of the buyer of electric vehicles," the statement said.

With inputs from PTI

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