Pimpri-Chinchwad: The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) is set to establish charging stations at 22 locations in Pimpri-Chinchwad city through a private agency to provide electric vehicle (EV) charging facilities to citizens, officials announced on Thursday. The tender was published four times over the last three years with changes to the terms and conditions.
Despite this, it failed to get a response. Now, after three years, the process of giving the work of setting up the stations to a private company is in the final stage. The stations will be set up on the basis of the 'Build and Operate' model.
According to Regional Transport Office (RTO) records, Pimpri-Chinchwad has over 2.3 million registered vehicles, which includes over 50,000 electric vehicles. For the increasing number of EVs, the charging stations will be built by PCMC. These stations will be set up on a 'build and operate' basis, meaning the PCMC will not incur any cost.
The concerned organisation will be provided with the land. For a period of ten years, the organisation must bear the cost of obtaining an electricity supply from the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL). The selected company must also construct the charging station and manage and maintain its operation, said a PCMC official.
The PCMC administration revealed that despite previously publishing tenders, it gained no solid response, and the tender had to be republished four times with changes in the terms and conditions. Finally, the process of awarding the work to a private agency is in the final stage.
This agency can charge customers a fee of ₹17 per unit plus Goods and Services Tax (GST) as a charging fee. This price is the maximum permissible rate for customers. If the electricity charges of the distribution company increase, the agency will be able to recover the corresponding amount from the customers. PCMC officials said that the estimated cost for one station is approximately ₹69 lakh, and the expected total expenditure for all 22 stations is estimated to be ₹20 crore.
Anil Bhalsakhale, Joint City Engineer of PCMC's Electrical Department, said, “22 charging stations will be set up in the city. The process of awarding the work to a private agency is in the final stage. The proposal has been sent to the Accounts Department. Once the proposal is received from them, the work order will be issued after approval from the Standing Committee. The stations will then be constructed within six months.”
The following are the 22 locations finalised for EV charging stations:
The premises of the PCMC Bhavan, Old Pune-Mumbai Highway, Durga Devi Tekdi, Transport Nagar (Nigdi), Bird Valley (Shahu Nagar), Bajaj Auto, Wrestling Complex (Bhosari), Major Dhyanchand Hockey Stadium (Nehru Nagar), Chikhali, Sewage Treatment Plant - STP (Chikhali), Wakad, Sant Nagar Garden (Kasarwadi), Kokane Chowk (Pimple Saudagar), Sub-Regional Transport Office, Landewadi (Bhosari), Bhakti-Shakti (Nigdi), Sant Tukaram Nagar Metro Station, P. K. Chowk (Pimple Saudagar), Yoga Park (Pimple Saudagar), Rajmata Jijamata Garden (Pimple Gurav), Vallabh Nagar, Auto Cluster (Chinchwad), and Rajarshi Shahu Garden (Chinchwad).
