Power Ministry amends guidelines for electric vehicle charging infrastructure, adds THESE features

The Ministry of Power has amended the guidelines for charging infrastructure for electric vehicles which was issued by the Ministry in January this year. The Power Ministry revised the consolidated Guidelines and Standards for charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in an official statement. The revised guidelines have two additions: The public charging stations (PCS) shall have the feature of the prepaid collection of service charges with the time of the day rates, and discount for solar hours and a committee under the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) will periodically recommend to the state government the ceiling limit of service charges to be levied on these public charging stations.

This Committee shall also recommend a "time of the day rate " for service charges as well as the discount to be given for charging during solar hours. The guidelines were issued in January to enable faster adoption of electric vehicles and provide affordable tariffs, chargeable from charging station operators and electric vehicle owners. 

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A total of 13,92,265 electric vehicles (EVs) are being used on the roads of India as on August 3, 2022, as per data available from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Heavy Industries Krishan Pal Gurjar informed the House in August this year that the highest number of electric vehicles in India is a three-wheeler. 

The total number of three-wheelers stands at 7,93,370. The total number of two-wheelers stands at 5,44,643. The number of the four-wheeler and above stands at 54,252 as on August 3, 2022. The government on May 12, 2021, approved the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the manufacturing of Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) in the country in order to bring down prices of batteries in the country. 

A drop in battery prices will result in cost reduction of electric vehicles. Electric vehicles are eligible for incentives under the PLI scheme for Automobile and auto Components, which was approved on September 15, 2021, with a budgetary outlay of Rs 25,938 crore for a period of five years. 

(With inputs from ANI)