In an effort to aid Electric Vehicle (EV) migration in the country, Tata Power plans to increase its national network of charging infrastructure four-fold.
Currently, Tata Power has 170 EV charging points in India, and the company plans to grow this to 700 by the end of FY21.
As a part of this initiative, Tata Power will be working closely with the EV industry to enable India’s large-scale migration to clean transportation across all segments including two- and four-wheelers.
Praveer Sinha, CEO & MD, Tata Power, said, “Despite the protracted slump in the Indian automotive sector, we continue to remain bullish about the future of the country’s mobility business and we believe that large-scale shift to clean mobility is inevitable. With the right policy framework in place, large domestic demand for clean mobility solutions and consistent drop in the total cost of ownership of EVs are strong signs of the direction in which India is moving. Over the last two years, we have been investing in a national network of charging infrastructure and expect to expand this further during the current financial year too.”
As the Indian automotive sector emerges from a prolonged slump in sales, the growth in demand for EVs is expected to outstrip internal combustion vehicles powered by fossil fuel. In 2019-20, over 1.5 lakh EVs were sold in India against 1.35 lakh in 2018-19, a 20 per cent jump in volume.
This effort by Tata Power is also a continuation of the Tata Group’s push, which last year got the entire group to kick-start and develop a complete e-mobility ecosystem to cater to future mobility demands.
Tata Power will take up the ownership of the units ― from installing charging stations to supplying power. “We have the knowhow for all charging formats ― home, public and fleet. Additionally, we will have (charging) stations in 650 locations in a year’s time,” Sinha had told BusinessLine last year.
The network of smart EV charging points will be set up in major metros including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, and Hyderabad, and will expand to other cities by the end of the current financial year. Further, Tata Power also plans to create infrastructure for home charging as well as continue expanding its public charging locations, such as at metro stations, shopping malls, theatres and highways.
The company is also in talks with metro rail authorities and municipal corporations for setting up EV charging stations across the country. The company will also be expanding its EV charging infrastructure at Tata Group-owned outlets such as Chroma, WestSide, Titan watch showrooms, and Indian Hotels. Also, Tata Power has developed a world-class platform for EV charging which includes various functionalities for corporates, fleets and individual users of EVs.
Apart from this, Tata Power has signed MoUs for setting up commercial EV charging stations at fuel outlets owned by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, Indian Oil Corporation Limited, and Indraprastha Gas Limited.
They have also tied up with Tata Motors, Jaguar Land Rover to provide entire charging solutions to them, including stations at their locations and home charging for the customers of their cars.