BSNL, EVI Technologies sign MoU to instal electric vehicle charging and battery swapping stations in India
EVIT claims that 5,000 of its charging stations can help reduce India’s annual greenhouse gas emissions by 6.80 lakh metric tons.
(EVIT), an electric vehicle charging infrastructure provider on Monday said it has inked a pact with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) for setting up battery swapping and charging stations.
As part of the 10-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) inked between the two entities, EVIT would instal charging infrastructure at 5,000 locations of BSNL across the country, covering major cities.
Under the agreement, EVIT will make the entire upfront investment on services pertaining to the MoU, along with the operation and maintenance of battery swapping infrastructure, the company said in a statement.
The state-owned telecom operator, on the other hand, would be responsible for providing the requisite space and power connections for instaling the battery swapping infrastructure, it added.
"As our country strives towards 100 percent electric vehicle nation, a lot of EV customers are left out simply because of less charging infrastructure. Our to-be-developed infrastructure at BSNL will reduce the range anxiety among EV consumers, and accelerate the adoption of such vehicles across India," Rupesh Kumar, CEO, EVI Technologies said.
BSNL Maharashtra CGM Manoj Kumar Mishra said the initiative will help promote clean energy and reduce carbon emissions.
Under the initiative, the first set of charging stations are planned to open next month in Maharashtra and Haryana. Each location will consist of at least 100 batteries for swapping and six public chargers.
EVIT began its operations in June 2017 with a seed funding of Rs 40 lakh. So far, the startup has received funding of over Rs 1.5 crore from various angel investors including Napino Auto & Electronics, one of the largest automotive electronics component manufactures in India. EVIT aims to cross the 10 million revenue mark by December 2020.
The company offers both slow and fast chargers which authenticate users via a smartphone application. Its VCube charging stations also allows slot booking in advance in case of congestion, and accepts payments via BHIM UPI application.
(Disclaimer: Additional background information has been added to this PTI copy for context.)
(Edited by Suman Singh)
