BESCOM launches second electric vehicle charging infra in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: The BESCOM on Monday introduced City’s second electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the premises of Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) on Millers road. The first such facility had come up in the headquarters of BESCOM in February this year.

The KERC has fixed demand charges at Rs 50 /kW/ month for low tension (LT) installations and Rs 180/kW/month for high tension (HT) installations. The users will, however, pay a uniform energy charge of Rs 4.85 per unit (kWh).

The BESCOM, officials said, has planned to set up a network of charging stations at 11 identified BESCOM owned locations and the work is expected to be completed in six months. In Bengaluru, there are over 6,000 electric vehicles.

In addition, the Transport department will also tie up with BESCOM to provide such facility in 120 places in the city including IT parks, shopping malls, metro stations, airport, and BDA complexes. “Setting up an electric charging point costs ₹4 lakh. We will create the facility keeping in mind the requirements of charging two-wheelers, four-wheelers and electric auto rickshaws,” an official had said.

The state government had set aside ₹4 crore towards the project in the 2017-18 budget.