With an aim to promote e-mobility in the State of Haryana, Tarun Kapoor, Secretary to Govt. of India (Petroleum and Natural Gas) in the presence of Trilok Chand Gupta, Additional Chief Secretary to the Government Haryana, New and Renewable Energy Department and Dr. Hanif Qureshi, Director General-cum- Secretary, New and Renewable Energy Department Haryana/HAREDA, inaugurated Haryana’s First-of-its-kind public charging station for charging all types of electric cars (e-Cars) at the head office of HAREDA, Panchkula. Other dignitaries present on the occasion were S.S. Phulia, Transport Commissioner, Mukesh Kumar, DC, Panchkula, Shashank Agarwal, MD, UHBVN.
Capable of charging any type or model of EV, this is the first-of-its-kind charging station in North India where all types of electric cars can be charged free of cost. It has been set up by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a JV of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) under the Ministry of Power, Government of India as a part of an agreement with Haryana Renewable Energy Department Agency (HAREDA - New & Renewable Energy Department, Haryana). The installation is part of EESL’s PCS pilot phase in the state and shall be open to public for use, free of cost. HAREDA will bear its entire cost of installation and maintenance.
The dignitaries also flagged off Five EVs which were handed over by EESL to HAREDA on a dry-lease monthly agreement. Among the five EVs, a Hyundai Kona EV has been deployed at the Head office of the Department in Panchkula while one Tata Nexon EV each will be deployed in district offices of the Department in Gurugram, Faridabad, Panchkula and Karnal.
HAREDA is also actively working for promotion and adoption of EV charging stations and EVs in the State of Haryana and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL), a wholly owned subsidiary of EESL for joint partnership to deploy EV charging infrastructure across State of Haryana, starting with Gurugram, Faridabad, Panchkula and Karnal. The MoU was signed by Dr. Hanif Qureshi, DG Hareda and Rajneesh Rana, GM & Cluster Head (North), EESL in presence of the ACS, NRE.
Inaugurating the EV charging station and flagging off the EVs, Tarun Kapoor said, “This one-of-its kind public charging station gives EV owners the freedom to choose their preferred EV, based on their respective mobility needs. With charging infrastructure that can address local needs, Haryana has the potential to greatly accelerate EV adoption and reduce the dependence on fossil fuels, thereby reducing the vehicular emissions and decreasing India’s import of petrol-based fuels.
Trilok Chand Gupta, Additional Chief Secretary to Government Haryana, New and Renewable Energy Department said that for speedy implementation of e-mobility scheme of Govt. of India and to reduce carbon emission, New and Renewable Energy Department, Haryana has been designated as State Nodal Agency for creation of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in the State. The installation of EV Charging station for all types of e-cars in head office is the first step towards providing facility for EV Charging to the owners of the e-vehicles in the state specially residents of tri city. The department will certainly scale up the creation of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in the State in near future. It was also stated that Haryana is in the process of framing EV Policy of the State to promote the purchase of e-vehicles. He thanked EESL for their expertise in scaling up adoption of EV and development of charging infrastructure in India and look forward to their support in the vision for a greener Haryana. He further stated that the partnership between CESL(EESL) and HAREDA will boost up EV adoption and encourage people in Haryana to move towards a cleaner and greener mobility.
Dr. Hanif Qureshi, Director General, HAREDA, said that e-vehicles are the only solution to address increasing vehicular pollution in the country. For the promotion of the e-vehicle the first step is to provide charging facility in the State. HAREDA is committed to create infrastructure for EV Charging facility all over Haryana, but in the first phase Highways and major cities will be covered. A huge demand has been recently noted for personal mobility vehicles in the State, making this the right time to promote EV adoption. To ensure awareness and adoption, initially the Department will provide free charging facility from this EV Charging Station. The Department is also planning to sign MOU with TATA Power to expand creation of infrastructure charging stations and EVs across Haryana.
Rajneesh Rana, GM & Cluster Head (Northern Region), EESL stated that the State of Haryana is poised to play a key role in the sustainable electric mobility revolution. The agreement with HAREDA thus takes forward India’s National E-Mobility Programme’s vision of clean and sustainable mobility.
