Pune: Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Friday asked the Maharashtra government to reduce electricity charges at electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to Rs 5 per unit between 8 am and 6 pm, saying a cheaper daytime rate would promote the EV segment in the state, Autocar Professional reported. He was speaking at the inauguration of six EKA Mobility manufacturing plants in Pune, an event also attended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Source: Autocar Professional
Gadkari said he has also asked the Union Ministry of Power to lower the rate at charging stations on national highways, where it currently stands at Rs 22 per unit — more than four times the daytime rate he proposed for Maharashtra. The highway ask takes the charging-cost push national, beyond the one state whose tariff he was addressing at the event.
Source: Autocar Professional
Fadnavis, accepting the request, said the state would bring in processes to reduce per-unit charges at charging stations. He said Maharashtra has surplus solar energy, enough to support its EV charging ecosystem, and that renewable energy would make up 52 per cent of the state's power mix by 2030 and 65 per cent by 2035, according to the report. Fadnavis also asked EKA Mobility to build and deploy 50,000 electric buses in the next three years and to promote 'Make in Maharashtra'.
Source: Autocar Professional
Gadkari also asked the auto industry, and EKA in particular, to reduce dependence on China for electric components, saying such imports currently stand at 30 to 40 per cent. The six plants EKA inaugurated at the event — the largest of them at Pithampur — have a combined capacity of 40,000 vehicles a year on an investment of Rs 3,500 crore, according to a company presentation cited in the report. EKA sold 500 electric buses and 1,268 electric small commercial vehicles in the first half of FY27.
Source: Autocar Professional
The presentation detailed the company's Bus and Truck Plant at Koregaon Bhima in Pune — a 580,000 sq ft facility that can make 4,800 buses and 4,000 trucks a year and employs 2,000 people directly, and will make the EKA 55T truck as well as buses. The Hindu BusinessLine has reported that EKA holds orders for 11,000 buses and is expanding into heavy electric trucks alongside its bus and small commercial vehicle lines. Union Heavy Industries Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar were among the other guests at the inauguration, which was streamed live by the Chief Minister's office.
Source: The Hindu BusinessLine