An official from West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (WBSEDCL), said that the company has invited bids for installing infrastructure for electric vehicle charging in public-private partnerships (PPP). This is to increase electric mobility within the state.
He said that the state-owned utility is seeking bids from interested parties to build 205 charging and battery-swapping stations for various types of vehicles.
WBSEDCL is the state agency responsible for setting up EV charging infrastructure. It said that the stations would be placed on its land and maintained by operators who will share the revenue.
“In this tranche of the deal, we will provide land for the installation of 205 EV charging/swapping stations in our sub-stations. The investment, operation and maintenance will be done by private concessionaires. The floor value of revenue share for the auction is Re 1 per unit of electricity,” the official said.
The contract will be awarded to the bidder with the highest revenue share for a particular site.
In total, 205 stations will be set up, out of which 40 stations will be located along national highways while the rest 165 will be constructed elsewhere. The initial contract period for the 205 stations will be 10 years with extensions.
The tariff for EV charging stations in WBERC, West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission, the state power sector regulator, has been set at Rs 6.98 per unit by WBERC.
The state EV policy states that West Bengal plans to become one of the most advanced states in electric mobility penetration by 2030, with a goal of 1 million electric vehicles.
The government envisages a 10,000-station installation base for EV charging and battery-swapping stations across the state. According to a company official, several charging station operators are interested in bidding.
The adoption of electric vehicles is also being supported by central government schemes in both the four-wheeler and two-wheeler segments. Other state agencies are also installing EV charging stations in bus depots throughout the city.
New Town, a suburb of Kolkata, has already installed 30 charging points. It is also in process of installing more facilities for private and public vehicles.
Notably, by 2023, 1,180 electric buses will be purchased by West Bengal Transport Corporation. CESC Ltd, which supplies power to Kolkata and is a part of Howrah, has not yet disclosed any plans for EV charging infrastructure.