Indian Oil Corporation to install 10,000 EV charging stations in 3 years across India

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) Chairman Shrikant Madhav Vaidya informed on Wednesday, November 3, that IOC is gearing to cope up with energy transition norms that targets for net-zero emissions by 2070. IOC which controls half of the nation's fuel dispensing network, will set up 2,000 EV charging stations by October next year and another 8,000 in the following two years. Previously on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made a statement that committed to net-zero carbon emission by 2070.

Vaidya emphasised that the company would draw electricity from the grid for the EV charging stations which will be in parallel to the network of battery swapping stations. While EV charging could typically take 45 minutes to 3 hours depending on the size of the charging stations, a battery swapping site offers the facility to change discharged batteries for a fully charged one in a matter of minutes.

While attesting that the IOC was in line with PM Modi's objectives, Chairman Vaidya said the company is setting up the infrastructure to give confidence to automobile manufacturers for enhancement of EV production and to customers for an uninterrupted drive. 

IOC Chairman Vaidya in a report to PTI said, "Energy pie of the country is growing. We are not a stagnant economy. Overall our energy pie is growing and so all kinds of fuel will be needed to meet the energy needs."

IOC plans to cater to the Electric automobile sector

In the first year, IOC will target setting up 231 EV charging stations in 9 high-priority cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Surat and Pune. Another 375 stations would be set up in the second year in these cities and a further 215 in the third year. In total, 944 charging stations would be set up in other state capitals over the three years but more than half of the 10,000 outlets planned would come upon highways and other cities.

The IOC understood that at present, battery-powered vehicles, called EVs, make up for a small percentage of all automobiles. Of all new 2-wheelers sold, EVs make up for about 1% while the percentage of same in the four-wheeler category is just 0.2%. 25% of new three-wheeler sale is EVs. By 2030, 30 per cent of all new two-wheelers are projected to be electric while 35 per cent of all new three-wheelers would be using electricity as fuel. 15% of four-wheelers sold in 2030 would be EVs, IOC official said quoting projections by different agencies.

With inputs from PTI

Image: Twitter@/US Energy Recovery/@ANI