Pune is moving at a slow pace towards e-mobility. Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) officials said there were few takers for the three electric vehicle charging stations set up by the company in Pune.
The power utility had set up its first electric vehicle (EV) charging station at Baner a year ago while two others were recently set up at Wadgaonsheri and Hinjewadi.
With the Centre giving a push towards the faster adoption of electric vehicles, the state government had launched an ambitious project of setting up 500 electric vehicle charging stations across Maharashtra in a phase-wise manner. In Pune, there are plans to set up 10 electric vehicle charging stations.
Sachin Talewar, Chief Engineer, Pune zone of MSEDCL, told The Indian Express that three EV charging stations were operational at the MSEDCL sub-stations in Baner, Hinjewadi, and Wadgaonsheri. MSEDCL officials, however, said the response has not been encouraging.
The tariff is fixed at Rs6 per unit on the basis of transit-oriented development, said an official, adding that a discount of Rs1.50 per unit would also be offered on power tariff for EV charging between 10 pm and 6 am. “Barring a few consumers, the response is yet to pick up,” the official added.
Dr. Rahul Walawalkar, president of the India Energy Storage Alliance, said they have launched a ‘Moving Onward with Vehicles Electric’ (MOVE) project, where education activities were being undertaken to help private companies understand the economics of electric vehicles.
“In cities like Delhi and Bengaluru, electric taxi fleets have picked up… The demand is slowly picking up in Pune and we are looking at a big uptake in EVs across the country,” Walawalkar said.