The modern-day world is full of the miracles gifted by science and technology. The dawn of industrialization has replaced human labour with machines. The most important facet which has been revolutionized by the human evolution is transport. It has not only connected people at distant places but has also transported them to the next level being able to travel in space. Various modes of transport including motor-bikes, cars, trucks, trains, ships, airplanes, rockets have made our life simpler. But all these come at the cost of fuel which is not only derived from rapidly depleting non-renewable sources of energy but also their burning causes pollution.

The problem of pollution

The over-exploitation of resources for energy and improper disposal of their remnants has resulted in high levels of pollution contaminating the air, water, soil and the overall environment around us. With the objective of the protection and improvement of environment, the Government has come up with numerous legislative frameworks and policies.

Environmentally friendly travel

In order to promote environment friendly travel, the Government on March 7, 2018 launched the National E-Mobility Programme (hereinafter referred to as the "Programme") to provide an impetus to the entire e-mobility ecosystem including vehicle manufacturers, charging infrastructure companies, fleet operators, service providers, etc. This will lead to increase of electric vehicles in the country. With the expectation of 20,000 electric cars, India is expected to save over 5 crore litres of fuel every year leading to a reduction of over 5.6 lakh tonnes of annual carbon dioxide emission.

Subsidy for electric vehicle charging infrastructure

The Government plans to provide INR 1,000 crore as subsidy for building a nationwide charging infrastructure for electric vehicles as it seeks to expedite the roll-out of India's ambitious EV programme.1

Planning of EV charging infrastructure needs to take into account multiple issues such as number of charging stations needed and their locations, availability of sites for the charging stations, type of charging station needed at each location, rules and regulations relevant for the deployment, availability of electrical grid capacity, timing of the rollout, dealing with possible changes in the plan, etc.

A charging station is intended to be installed at every 25 KM on these highways, according to the note prepared by the Government. The government also plans to have 1,000 charging stations across the country especially on major highways such as Delhi-Chandigarh, Delhi-Mumbai, and Mumbai-Surat-Pune stretch.

Footnote

1. https://www.livemint.com/Industry/gPQkdVveA5yWzXzit3iQFL/1000-crore-subsidy-likely-for-EV-charging-infrastructure.html

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