BPCL to invest Rs. 200 crore for 100 fast EV charging corridor
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) has announced that it will invest around Rs 200 crore this fiscal to set up 100 fast electric vehicle charging corridors having 2,000 stations along the busiest 100 national highways.
The company has lately opened its first EV charging corridor along the Chennai-Trichi-Madurai highway with one charging unit. The second corridor will come upon the Kochi-Salem section of the National Highway 47 within the next two months, BPCL executive director for retail B S Ravi stated.
Ravi said in case a charging unit does not need a booster transformer, such a unit which will be a full-fledged centre offering restrooms, refreshments/food court, among other amenities can be ready at a cost varying from Rs 7-12 lakh, and if the unit needs a transformer, then the cost will go up to Rs 25 lakh.
"Given this cost variance, we have budgeted for around Rs 200 crore investment this fiscal as we plan to set up as many as 2,000 fast-charging stations across 100 corridors by March 2023," Ravi said.
He said for the long-term, the company has plans to have 7,000 fast EV charging stations by FY25. But he did not disclose the investment details.
He said the third corridor will most probably be the Mumbai-Bengaluru National Highway 4 and will have multiple units as the highway has the highest traffic.
Ravi said the national oil refiner and marketer, which is the second-largest player with close to 30 percent retail market in petrol and diesel, hopes that the EV ecosystem will grow faster than forecasted earlier, and the company wants to play a big role in setting up the basic infrastructure for this ambitious drive.
