IOC to set up 500 EV charging stations across India

Bengaluru: A day after Karnataka minister for large and medium scale jndustries Jagadish Shettar’s commitment to give fillip to electronic vehicles and to make the Benglauru an EV capital, Indian Oil Corporation has been given a target of setting up 500 electric charging stations across the country, said Indian Oil Corporation Karnataka executive director D L Pramodh.

Addressing a press conference here yesterday he said the ministry of power has given the company a target to set up 500 charging stations across India in the first phase.

“By March 31, the IOC in the state has aimed for setting up 34 vehicle charging facilities. Of these, 26 will be EV charging sites and the remaining eight would be battery swapping stations,” Pramodh added.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between IOC and companies like NTPC, Power Grid Corporation Limited, Hyundai Motors, Tech Mahindra and Tata Power for setting up charging stations. In Karnataka alone, as many as 58 locations have been identified for setting up battery swapping and charging stations, he added.

The IOC has taken various measures towards the usage of sustainable fuel including promoting the production and consumption of compressed biogas as a replacement to compressed natural gas, said Mr. Pramodh.

The PSU oil company is also procuring biodiesel from start-ups who purchase waste cooking oil from hotels and convert it into bio-diesel under the Repurposed Used Cooking Oil (RUCO) scheme. This bio-diesel will be blended with diesel.

“Already a Bengaluru-based entrepreneur is manufacturing 40,000 litres of biodiesel,” said Pramodh.

Further, Pramod claimed that the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) penetration in Karnataka is 'absolutely 100 per cent' due to the Prime Minister Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY).

The LPG penetration was 68 per cent in 2014 and following the implementation of PMUY the reach is absolutely 100 per cent in a span of almost six years.