Kolkata: Large housing complexes that are developed may have to provide charging infrastructure in half the parking lots.
Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has drafted an amendment in its building rules to make it mandatory for developers to factor in growth of e-vehicles in the city and accordingly provide charging points at 50% of the parking lots in the complex. Till now, the requirement restricted to 5% of parking space. The move, civic officials said, was aimed to promote use of EVs in a bid to curb pollution.
According to the proposal, all projects of 20,000 sq m or more will need to meet the new norm. It has already received the nod from the state urban development department and has been passed unanimously by municipal building committee. The final decision rests with the municipal commissioner.
Developers say they are more than willing to offer charging infrastructure in not just projects above 20,000 sq m but even smaller ones because electrical vehicles are the future. “About two decades ago, plug points at homes were primarily confined to the main switch boards in rooms.
Only the living room had additional points for the TV, the dining room for the fridge, two-three points in the kitchen for electrical appliances like mixer, toaster and microwave and one elsewhere for the washing machine. But now, we offer it in all vantage points because mobiles, tablets, laptops, Wi-Fi devices, Alexa and a lot of electrical devices need to be plugged in. We will now also add another line to the parking lot where the customers’ cars can be charged,” said Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India president (West Bengal) Sushil Mohta.
Credai is the knowledge partner of KMC in the initiative. While a 3-bedroom unit has an electrical load of 5 kw, offering a charging point at the garage will mean adding another 3 kw load. That will also mean increasing the building’s electrical load by 1.5-1.7 times.
Mohta said even offices and malls would provide paid parking infrasturcture.
Credai Bengal president Siddharth Pansari said developers would be pragmatic and offer necessary infrastructure based on both regulations and on-the-ground demand.
Dhoot group CEO Piyush Dhoot said they had decided to provide charging points at all projects as EV adoption had increased substantially, particularly two-wheelers. Electric car sales are also rising .
Meanwhile, KMC parking department has identified areas adjacent to parking lots to set up EV charging stations.
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