Central Railway in alliance with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and Tata Power has announced the launch of their innovative green initiative for promoting e-mobility in Mumbai. As a part of this initiative, charging points for electric vehicles will be made available at all key railway stations in the island city, the suburbs, and the neighboring Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
The charging points will encompass a wide geographical area and offer a unified experience for electric vehicle (EV) owners to charge their vehicles through a pay-per-use model. The collective venture aims to enhance the overall e-mobility sector and boost green mobility around railway stations.
In the initial phase, contracts have by now been awarded for railway stations comprising Thane, Dadar, Parel, and Byculla. For the next phase, tenders have been floated for the next set of stations comprising Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT)), Bhandup, Panvel, and Kalyan. Areas at the entry-exit points of railway stations with parking facilities have been allocated for the charging stations as per the availability.
“A transition to e-mobility is one of the best solutions for combatting the challenges of air pollution and the climate crises with electrification being a flexible, energy-efficient, and sustainable way to decarbonize the economy,” expressed Atul Bagai, Head of UNEP’s India Office.
“India is taking a step in the right direction towards achieving a cleaner transport sector through this tri-party initiative. We are proud to be working closely with Central Railway and Tata Power to leverage cleaner energy sources and nudge India towards adopting them more widely.”
Robin Kalia, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager of the Central Railway of Mumbai, said, “An EV charging station has been installed at Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CMT) in partnership with TATA Power and UNEP. We plan to extrapolate this model for installing EV charging stations at all major Railway Stations under the Mumbai division. This endeavor owes its successful implementation to the strategic leadership of Mr. Shalabh Goel, Divisional Railway Manager, Mumbai.”
Mentioning on this partnership, Praveer Sinha, CEO & Managing Director of Tata Power, said, “We are extremely glad to collaborate with the UNEP and Central Railway for our clean mobility initiatives. This partnership is important for us as it will demonstrate our commitment to provide greener and cleaner e-mobility solutions to consumers in the Mumbai, capital city of Maharashtra.”
The expansion of charging points will amplify Tata Power’s network of 300 already in place in 40 different cities, he further added