5,000 electric vehicle charging points coming to Mumbai soon

The MoU was signed on Thursday at The Real Estate Forum 2022 in Mumbai in the presence of state Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray. The move will give a boost to EV adoption in the state.

Tata Power will provide a comprehensive EV charging solution across member developers of NAREDCO. This will include installation, maintenance, and upgrade of the chargers as and when required. EV owners across NAREDCO’s member developers’ properties will have access to 24×7 vehicle charging, monitoring, and e-payments facilities through Tata Power’s EZ Charge mobile app. The collaboration is a step toward reducing carbon emissions and accelerating e-mobility adoption across the state.

“We are grateful to the government of Maharashtra for enabling Tata Power and NAREDCO collaboration to accelerate the expansion of EV charging infrastructure across the state. The move will put an efficient electric vehicle ecosystem closer to the end-user, allowing us to contribute to the national aim of a rapid transition to green mobility,” said Dr Praveer Sinha, CEO & MD, Tata Power.

These chargers will be made available as public/ semi-public charging stations based on the nature of the premises. This will give commuters easy access to the chargers, thereby encouraging them to use electric vehicles.

Speaking at The Real Estate Forum 2022, a one-day flagship event organised by NAREDCO and knowledge partner JLL, Thackeray said, “Whenever there is talk of Electric Vehicle (EV) adoption, I’m often asked about the infrastructure of charging stations; it’s one of the biggest issues with charging infrastructure facilities.”

Meanwhile, with an objective of a separate Electric Vehicle Charging Policy for Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday held its first meeting with the shareholders. The BMC has set up an ambitious target of getting 1,500 EV charging stations and ensuring at least 10 per cent of EV penetration into the city by 2025. According to a city-level analysis conducted by World Resource Institute, India, the total EV charging energy demand in the city is expected to be 550 MWh by 2025. This anticipated demand would imply the need to set up at least 21,096 charging points across Mumbai by 2025.

Housing minister Jitendra Awhad who was also present at the event along with Revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat, announced that the Maharashtra government is planning to redevelop 21 acres of prime land at Cuffe Parade in South Mumbai, known as the fisherman’s colony or the Machchimar Nagar. “Out of these, there is 15 acres of open space. The government intends to involve the slum rehabilitation authority (SRA) which will take care of the process and then hand it over to someone with a vision to develop it further,” he said.

Awhad and Thorat both spoke about the role of the sector during the pandemic and on whether the state government’s amnesty scheme will generate revenue for the government. “The real estate sector has played an important role in mobilising help during the pandemic,” Thorat said, adding, “With the opening up of the economy, the government decided to offer help and support to all sectors impacted by the pandemic. Several projects, such as the Mumbai metro, trans harbour line, Navi Mumbai airport and Samruddhi Expressway project which would benefit the common citizens were brought back into focus.”

Thorat touched upon the topic of the amnesty scheme and its significance. He said, “The amnesty scheme will help people pay the correct stamp duty as well as get a waiver on it. Under this scheme, people would be eligible for 90 per cent of waiver of penalty in certain cases. This would also help generate revenue for the government.”