The guidelines for EV charging infrastructure issued by the ministry of power last month have evoked mixed response from the country’s charge point operators (CPO). One of the biggest challenges to electric mobility is the creation of charging infrastructure.

The central government, through the power ministry, has acknowledged the need to address the issue and has framed guidelines for the same.

The Indian Charge Point Operators Association, comprising Jio BP, ChargeZone, Zeon, EVRE, GLIDA and two manufacturers Ador and Mindra, has been sharing its recommendations to the power ministry and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency to present the industry perspective.

The government guideline includes increasing the LT (low tension) threshold nationwide to 150 kilowatts.

“It is a favourable move for developing public charging infrastructure. However, how it will be implemented remains uncertain as this decision lies with individual regulators.

“The feasibility of changing the entire electrical infrastructure across the country to accommodate this increase will be challenging, but CPOs believe the 150-kilowatt recommendation is a positive guideline as it can support two to three fast chargers at one location, which would ease charging by end-users,” said Awadhesh Jha from GLIDA, who is also the chairman of the Indian Charge Point Operators Association .

According to the government guidelines, state PSUs, central PSUs or state agencies can acquire locations
for charge points from municipal corporations or other
landowning government agencies at a flat rate of ₹1 per kWh revenue share without going through a tender process.

The guidelines for private operators mandate that such public locations can be made available to private CPOs through competitive bidding.