Power Ministry Revises Electric Vehicle Charging Norms to Boost e-Mobility

To promote electric vehicles (EV), Power Minister R K Singh approved amendments in guidelines and specifications for charging infrastructure. These revised guidelines and specifications shall supersede the earlier guidelines and standards issued by the Ministry of Power on December 14, 2018, according to a statement by the Power Ministry. Singh said in the statement that the revised guidelines are more consumer-friendly, as they incorporate a number of suggestions received from various stakeholders. "We have tried to address the concerns of EV owners in new guidelines," he added and expressed hope that the new guidelines will encourage faster adoption of EVs in the country.

To address the range of issues of the EV owners, a phase-wise installation of a network of charging infrastructure throughout the country has been envisaged in the new guidelines to ensure that at least one charging station should be available in a grid of 3 km X 3 km in the cities and one charging station at every 25 km on both sides of highways and roads. It has been envisaged that in the first phase (i.e. 1-3 years), all megacities with a population of over four million as per Census 2011, all existing expressways connected to these megacities and important highways connected with each of these megacities may be taken up for coverage, while in the second phase (3-5 years), big cities such as state capitals, Union territory (UT) headquarters may be covered for distributed and demonstrative effect.

Further, important highways connected with each of these megacities may also be taken up for coverage. To address the concerns in inter-city travel and long-range and/or heavy-duty EVs such as buses and trucks, it has been provided that fast-charging stations shall be installed at every 100 km on each side of the highways and roads. Assuming that most of the charging of EVs would take place at homes or at offices where the decision of using fast or slow chargers would rest on the consumers, it has been clarified in the guidelines that private charging at residences or offices shall be permitted and power distribution companies may facilitate the same.