There are several apps to find a nearby EV charging station for your EV. But most of these apps only provide information on EV stations of their networks. To make it easy to find nearby EV charging slots, the Indian government has announced a plan to develop a master app to track the real-time availability of EV charging slots nearby.
The app will let EV owners discover the nearest available charging station and book a slot for charging their EV.
NITI Aayog also held a meeting with companies working in the EV charging segment to discuss the plan and bring the beta version of the app in the coming weeks. The Government of India will own the project and the Asian Development Bank will fund the project.
Finding a charging station in an unknown city is a big challenge for EV owners. There are several companies that have their EV charging station network. These companies have their own apps to locate charging stations owned by them. So, the EV owner needs to use multiple apps to make sure he isn’t missing any EV charging stations. So, the government wants to provide a single place to find EV charging stations.
As per The Bureau of Energy Efficiency, there are 7013 charging stations in India as of May 5, 2023. The government has also allocated Rs. 1000 crore under Phase 2 of the FAME scheme to develop charging infrastructure across the country.
The government has sanctioned 2,877 charging stations across 68 cities in 25 states and UTs. It has also sanctioned 1,576 charging stations on nine expressways and 16 highways. Rs. 800 crores have been allocated to set up 22,000 fast chargers at several petrol pumps across the country.
