Government Announces Installation of 2600 Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in 62 Cities

In a big move towards the push for electric vehicles, NITI Aayog CEO, Amitabh Kant has announced that the government has approved the installation of 2600 EV charging stations in 62 cities under FAME -2 scheme.

Amitabh Kant took to Twitter to announce the news saying "Big move: Giving a major impetus to Electric Vehicle mobility Govt has approved the installation of 2600 EV charging stations in 62 cities under FAME -2. At least one charging station will be available in a grid of 4 KM *4 km. This would remove range anxiety."

Earlier, in December, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had announced that the government is also considering building “e-highways”, on which he said there would be charging stations. “We are building a 12-lane expressway between New Delhi and Mumbai and it will pass through all backward regions in Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana. Now the idea is, the first 10 km of this highway in Gurgaon will be made as an e-highway,” he said.

“We want to use electric as the fuel on the express highway. It will be a gamechanger. Now the cost of going by road is Rs 10 per km, railways is Rs 6 per km, waterways is Re 1 per km. So cost for travelling by road is very high. But if we replace petrol and diesel with electric vehicles, the cost will come down to Rs 5. This is the future,” he said.