To set up electric vehicle charging stations along with battery swapping facility in Uttar Pradesh, Essel Infraprojects (EIL) is planning to invest a whopping sum of Rs 1,750 crore in phased manner.
In a recent report by IANS, EIL has plans to flag off around 250 charging stations and 1,000 battery swapping venues across 20 cities of Uttar Pradesh. The public announcement was made during the foundation stone laying ceremony by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lucknow.
Essel aims to generate 50,000 jobs in UP by the deployment of 25,000 e-rickshaws. The company is of the notion that this move will cut down the battery charging price and at the same time will bring down the running cost per km at par with CNG or any other alternative fuel.
To make the process driver friendly, EIL will also provide battery swapping options at every 2 sq kms which will be supported by digital apps. With the help of the apps drivers will be able to spot the nearby swapping station.
According to EIL, the battery can be swapped in 2-3 minutes, increasing vehicle productivity for plying. The operations will commence from Ghaziabad and gradually extend to other cities like Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Noida, Meerut and Varanasi.