Govt to focus on tech for charging electric vehicles

Keen to give the desired push to electric mobility in the country, the Union government plans to aggressively focus on finding solutions for developing indigenous technology for charging electric vehicles in the country. It aims to soon hold a grand challenge for innovators and start- ups to seek a homegrown know- how for energising these new age automobiles.

Currently on the global level there is no infrastructure for charging electric vehicles and most of the countries use the European, Japanese and American models of charging such vehicles.

While in India, the electric vehicle industry is in its infancy and therefore there is hardly any charging infrastr- ucture available here, sources said that as of now the European model is being used, but the PMO is keen that in the long run India should become self sufficient.

The much- hyped first ever Global Mobility Summit, which India is hosting on September 7- 8 , will be used as a brainstorming platform by innovators and entrepreneurs to come up with ideas for developing its own charging infrastructure, sources said further.

The summit, which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, could be one of the last major events of the NDA government prior to 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and the Centre wants to show the country’s readiness to adopt electric vehicles during the event.

The government has set up an inter- ministerial group under the aegis of the ministry of science and technology to find an indigenous charging technology, highly placed sources said. However at the same time it plans to hold a grand challenge for innovators to come up with ideas on the subject.

The event, which is going to witness participation of more than 1,000 major entrepreneurs and innovators from across the world in the field of electric mobility, renewable energy, logistics and urban transport, has been planned by the government think tank Niti Aayog.

Interestingly, the Niti Aayog has also been working towards evolving a national strategy for transforming mobility, urging all states to formulate state- specific comprehensive strategies.