The Chandigarh Renewable Energy, Science & Technology Promotion Society (Crest) has shot off a fresh reminder to the municipal corporation (MC) for signing of the pending memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two on public electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.
The Crest has requested the MC to sign the MoU for energization and operationalisation of the already installed public EV charging stations. “The Crest had submitted the MoU, after discussions with the MC, in Oct last year. Thereafter, a reminder in this regard was sent in Nov and now a fresh reminder has been sent so that the process can speed up,” said an official.
An MoU between the two entities will pave way for the charging stations, setup by private contractors, to get electric supply from the UT electricity department.
The Crest had set Jan-end as a fresh deadline to start 56 charging guns at five locations. Of these, officials say, work on three locations has been completed, but in the absence of an official agreement between the MC and Crest, final operationalisation of stations is still pending.
Earlier, the construction and installation work were suspended after the Chandigarh municipal corporation raised objections over the location of some of the charging stations.
Thereafter, the Crest and MC reached an understanding regarding the location of the stations. A go-ahead was given for installation of the charging stations.
After the tendering process, the Crest had allotted the work of installation to two companies. REIL is also to setup charging stations, but after the objections from the MC the work was derailed. It was only after the intervention and directions from the UT administrator that the issue was resolved. Last year, the MC finally gave its location preferences to the Crest and after several rounds of meeting with MC officials, the Crest restarted the work of installation of the charging stations.
An official said, “The Crest is waiting for the MoU from the MC. The work on installation work at three locations have been completed and are ready for energization. So, as soon as the MoU is signed, stations will be energized. The electricity department will allow for energization only when the MoU is signed with the MC.”
