Hindustan Petroleum Signs MoU To Provide Electric Vehicle Charging Stations At All Its Petrol Pumps In India

The Indian government has set a target of 15 per cent of all sold vehicles to be all electric by 2023-24, this will require a charging infrastructure. Keeping this in mind Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU), owned by the government of India will be setting up charging stations at its petrol pumps all over the country. The company has signed a MoU with Tata power in this regard, Financial Express has reported.

HPCL has planned to set up electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in all of its retail outlets in India and other locations where the company operates.

Tata power and HPCL, together, have agreed to plan, develop and operate these charging facilities on a commercial scale. Electric vehicles like electric cars, e-rickshaws, e-bikes, e-scooters and electric cars will be charged in these facilities.

“By servicing electric vehicles through the proposed charging stations across India, Tata Power will be playing a crucial role in enabling a stronger penetration of EVs in the country, thus fulfilling our commitment to power India’s future in an environmentally sustainable way,” said Praveer Sinha, Tata Power’s chief executive officer.

“We aim to continuously grow our EV charging infrastructure footprints by installing charging stations at strategic locations. Our association with HPCL will help us to scale our EV infrastructure at the national level as well as provide our customers with world-class services”, told Rahul Shah, chief strategy officer of Tata Power to HT.

Rajnish Mehta, Executive Director, Corporate Strategy Planning and Business Development, HPCL’s executive director Rajnish Mehta said, “We believe that a robust network of charging stations is very critical for market acceptability of EVs which will also ensure last mile connectivity and thereby facilitate widespread adoption of EVs. We intend to leverage on our vast marketing infrastructure network in the form of Retail Outlets and other locations for setting up of electric vehicle charging stations on pan India basis”.

Indian car companies are planning to launch a number of EVs in India in the coming five years and an established charging infrastructure will accelerate wide level adoption of EVs.