No EV-charging station on GT Road in Punjab

Patiala, October 12

There are no electric vehicle (EV)-charging stations on the GT Road passing through Patiala district. Oil companies have started making provisions for EV charging at filling stations at Shermajra village and Bakshiwala village on the outskirts of Patiala city here, but the two filling stations are hardly visited by commuters.

Officials at the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Patiala, said, “There are no EV-charging stations on GT Road passing through Patiala. Oil companies have started making provisions for electric vehicle charging after getting permission from the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO).

“They had planned installation of seven charging stations at different locations. Of these, charging stations have been set up and made functional at filling stations of Shermajra villages on NH-7 and at Bakshiwala village on the outskirts of Patiala,” they said.

But Ravinder Kaur, District Food and Civil Supplies Officer (DFSO), said the charging stations are hardly visited by commuters. “These two were made functional early last year. Both are slow-charging capacity points. According to oil companies, they will have to incur high cost to provide fast-charging capacity. But the same is not yet economical due to lack of subsidy from the government,” she said.

Apart from the two locations, such charging points will be installed at a filling station in Rajpura, another on Sirhind road, one at the petrol pump at Leela Bhawan in the city, at Gurm goods filling station on Ambala border and HP filling centre at Dhindsa village of Rajpura.

IOCL sales officer Jeevtesh Singh said, “PESO is in the process to provide approval to oil companies to set up fast-charging stations on national highways. The process for approval is going on.”