After Hyderabad and Mumbai, the company is looking to expand its network in cities like Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Chandigarh and Pune.
Fortum, one of the world’s leading clean energy companies, is planning to strengthen its presence in India by expanding its network of charging points for electric vehicles (EVs).
Fortum India has already operationalized 36 direct current (DC), unmanned points in the suburbs of Hyderabad and Mumbai, and it is now aiming to upgrade this network to 700 by 2020.
Awadesh Jha, vice president (charge & drive and sustainability), Fortum India, said that they are constantly evaluating the Indian market for charging infrastructure.
According to him, they are targeting the advanced cities with higher per capita incomes and people with greater disposable incomes. So, after Hyderabad and Mumbai, they are looking at cities like Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Chandigarh and Pune.
FAME II scheme to boost e-mobility in India
He is expecting more EV launches in India from the higher end original equipment manufacturers, towards the middle of this year.
Jha also feels the Government of India’s second phase of Faster Adoption & Manufacturing of Electric & Hybrid Vehicles (FAME) scheme will give an impetus to e-mobility.
Meanwhile, Fortum has also entered into a joint venture with Numaligarh Refinery Ltd along with Chempolis for installing a bio-refinery plant, where the company intends to manufacture ethanol from bamboo.
(With inputs from Business Standard)
Electric Vehicles in India are going to be a big challenge no doubt, however, if Indian Govt. actively participate and remove a big portion of taxes on Electric Vehicles then it can help accelerate the EVs growth in India.