Greater Noida: Charging stations will come up in Greater Noida within the next few months. The first one among them is expected to get operational in the Alpha 1 commercial belt later this month. GNIDA officials said they are studying the feasibility of such charging stations in Delhi.
While the Noida Authority had tied up with Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a company floated by the Union ministry of power in July last year, GNIDA is yet to initiate the process. However, the authority is gearing up to sign the agreement with the company by next week.
An authority official said, “We are surveying the town to identify the locations where the charging stations can be installed. We are going to propose around 100 stations here. However, for now 40 stations will be installed and later, new locations will be added according to the demand. We have gathered that in Delhi and Noida, a third charging station is hardly being used.”
To reduce pollution, particularly in Delhi and NCR, the Union government had asked government departments and agencies to promote usage of electric vehicles in their offices. The civic bodies have also been asked to play a proactive role and create an ecosystem to cater to the individuals who own electric vehicles. In August 2019, both the authorities had started using electric vehicles internally and offered pick and drop facilities to their employees through a fleet of electric vehicles.
Both the authorities have a fleet of five vehicles. While each vehicle in GNIDA has covered 30,000 km on an average, Noida Authority’s fleet has crossed 35,000 km. “The results have been satisfactory and electric vehicles are being used frequently to cover short distances in the town,” said GNIDA’s additional chief executive officer, Deep Chandra.
EESL had set up charging stations within the offices of the two authorities and had sought space to create infrastructure for the users. While GNIDA and Noida Authority have agreed to offer space to set up the charging stations, the company in return will give them a share of the earnings it draws as usage charges. The authority is inclined towards setting up uncrewed (the user has to scan QR code) charging stations with each station having two charging guns. In Noida, 162 charging stations are expected to come up in a graded manner and around 20 are already operational.
Tanmay Garg, a resident of Sector 78, said, “I want to upgrade from my hatchback to a sedan. If both the authorities create sufficient infrastructure, I will go for an electric vehicle this Diwali.”
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