Tata Motors unit, HPCL to boost EV charging infra

Vijay C Roy

Chandigarh, March 27

In a boost to electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in the country, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility (TPEM) on Wednesday said it has tied up with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) to set up 5,000 public charging stations by the year-end.

Earlier, TPEM signed MoU with Bharat Petroleum to install 7,000 EV charging points across India by 2024.

Besides facilitating EV owners, the tie-up aims to explore synergies between the two companies to encourage more people to adopt EVs.

“As the adoption of EVs increases, the availability of widespread and dependable charging infrastructure will play a crucial role in making EVs mainstream in India. This collaboration is essential for facilitating infrastructure development to support the expanding EV customer base,” said Balaje Rajan, Chief Strategy Officer, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd.

Similarly, other electric vehicle makers also signed MoU with fuel retailers, private players to strengthen charging infrastructure.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is currently in the process of setting up 22,000 EV charging stations at oil companies fuel outlets by December, 2024. Fuel retailers have also tied up with carmakers, fleet owners and power companies to build and operate charging infrastructure.

India currently has 80,000 plus retail petrol pumps of oil marketing companies, including Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum. Indian Oil, the largest fuel retailer in the country, has 8,760 filling stations with EV chargers, or nearly a quarter of the total 32,000 pumps it operates. HPCL’s 3,050 pumps and BPCL’s 2,640 pumps have EV chargers.

As per inputs from the Ministry of Power, preliminary studies carried out for nine cities having 4 million plus population, namely Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata indicate a requirement of 18,000 public EV charging stations by 2030.

As many as 14.64 lakh electric vehicles were sold in India during April 2023-February 2024. These included 8,07,487 two-wheelers, 5,71, 68 three-wheelers and 81,319 cars.

18K stations needed

• As per the Ministry of Power, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata require 18,000 EV charging stations by 2030
• As many as 14.64 lakh EVs, including 8,07,487 two-wheelers, 5,71, 68 three-wheelers and 81,319 cars were sold in India in this fiscal