A look at India's electric vehicle journey: 10 lakh EVs; 1,742 public charging stations

A total of 10,60,707 electric vehicles were registered in India till last week, while 1,742 public charging stations (PCS) and 816 toll plazas were operational in the country.

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Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on March 23 informed the Parliament that a total of 10,60,707 electric vehicles were registered in India till last week, while 1,742 public charging stations (PCS) were operational in the country. 

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Gadkari said electric charging stations are to be provided by the developer on national highways as part of the wayside amenities (WSAs).

"The number of electric vehicles in the country, as per Vahan 4 data as on March 19, is 10,60,707, and a total of 1,742 Public Charging Stations (PCS), as per Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), are operational in the country as on March 21, 2022," Gadkari said.

He said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has already awarded 39 such facilities for development. Replying to a separate question, Gadkari said 816 toll plazas are operational on national highways across the country as on March 21, 2022.

On the policy regarding winding up of a toll plaza, he explained that as per National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008, incase of Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects, after completion of the concession period, the user fee is to be collected by the central government at reduced rates of 40 percent. In case of public-funded projects, the user fee rates are to be reduced to 40 percent after recovery of capital cost of the project, the minister said.

According to Gadkari, Rajasthan (122), Uttar Pradesh (90) and Madhya Pradesh (77) have the maximum number of toll plazas.

Replying to another question, he said about Rs. 20,268.45 crore and an amount of Rs. 1,189.94 crore has been released/spent on projects sanctioned under the Central Road & Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) and Economic Importance & Interstate Connectivity (EI&IC) scheme respectively during the last three years. 

(With inputs from PTI)