India is witnessing an early stage of electrical revolution in the making. The key ingredients, which are expected to provide springboard to the electrical vehicle adoption, have started falling in place. Accordingly, Govt. of India earmarked funds through FAME-I &II schemes for incentivizing in a big way, both in manufacturing of EVs across all segments i.e. 2W, 3W, PVs, LCVs and Buses and developing pan India charging infrastructure. Also, various State Governments are giving push to EV adoption by formulating suitable EV policies and extending subsidies for developing charging infrastructure in their respective states.

MOP&NG made it mandatory for all new retail outlets commissioned after November 2019 to have one alternate fuel in addition to MS/HSD. It is proposed to have Gaseous fuel as the first choice of alternate fuel. In case there is no feasibility or potential for gaseous fuels, all such new retail outlets would be considered for having EV charging as the alternate energy form.

HPCL is observant of all the developments in the EV space and has started taking steps to not only play a role in the story but to write the part of the story by setting up charging stations in all key geographies and on major highways. To participate in the growing EV ecosystem, HPCL is leveraging its strong network of 20000+ outlets. In line with the guidelines of “National Mission for Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage”, it has prioritized installation of EV charging infrastructure (Both EV charging and Battery swapping stations) in the 9 cities with 4 million plus population, i.e. Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Surat and Pune, all state Capitals, cities having tourist and religious importance and on all the major highways connecting these cities.

HPCL has adopted two-pronged approach in giving impetus to developing EV Charging infrastructure at a faster pace. On one hand, it is establishing charging infrastructure at its own cost and on the other hand, entering into tie-ups with various EV OEMs and infrastructure developing companies to develop EV charging and battery swapping stations on revenue sharing models. So far, 18 agreements are signed with OEMs and Charge Point Operators including EESL, JBM, TATA Power, Honda Power, Ather Energy, Hero Moto Corp & OLA Electric. 1,011 nos. charging stations have been installed/ commissioned as on 31st Mar’22 and has a plan of commissioning 5,000 charging stations by 2023-24.

Types of EV chargers, which are being installed and their suitability are as below:

A/C Charger - Alternate current is supplied to vehicle's onboard charger that converts AC to DC. In turn, that is used to charge the vehicle battery

AC Type Chargers