Despite poor infra, electric vehicle sales on the rise in Chandigarh

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Chandigarh, July 17

Poor infrastructure for electric vehicles (EV) in the city has failed to dampen the spirit of buyers. Since the implementation of the EV Policy in September 2022, as many as 3,281 electric two-wheelers and 1,785 four-wheelers have been registered in the city till July 15.

The UT Administration had notified the five-year EV Policy with the goal of gradually halting the registrations of fuel-run vehicles to encourage people to shift to eco-friendly transportation.

On November 23 last year, UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit revoked the capping on non-electric vehicle registrations, including two-wheelers, four-wheelers and commercial vehicles.

According to the data provided by the Registration and Licensing Authority (RLA), 352 electric two-wheelers and 114 four-wheelers were registered from September to December in 2022. The highest number of 2,103 electric two-wheelers and 1,013 four-wheelers had been registered in 2023 and 826 two-wheelers and 658 four-wheelers till July 15 this year in the city.

On March 8, the UT Administrator had stated that all 53 charging stations would be made functional by month-end. Later, the authorities had stated that the stations would be made operational by the April-end. While eight charging stations have been made functional so far, at least 20 more would become operational by the end of July.

With regard to mode of payment at these stations, officials of the Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science and Technology Promotion Society (CREST) said the charging stations had been made functional and handed over to a company. It was the responsibility of the operating agency how it collected fee.

According to the CREST officials, eight charging stations, including those in Sectors 44-C, 44-D, 43-B, 7, Mani Majra and Lake Sport Club, have been provided with power connection and the rest would be made operational in a phased manner. The main reasons for the delay in making the charging stations functional was time taken in getting approvals from various departments, they added. An impasse between the local Municipal Corporation and the UT Administration over the installation of charging stations in parking lots had earlier delayed the project.

The officials said 20 charging stations had already been installed and made operational in private establishments and three petrol pumps. Nearly 8,000 electric vehicles have been registered in the city so far.

Outdated charging units

In response to a complaint filed on the government portal, officials of CREST have stated that there are plans to upgrade the existing charging units at the Sukhna Lake parking. These units, provided free of cost by the Ministry of Power, were installed in 2016.