BMC takes EV way out of polluting fuel vehicles

An electric vehicle charging point installed at BMC head office

In a bid to support sustainable and clean mobility solutions, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation from April 1 will only procure electric vehicles (EVs), as per the state government's orders. To date, the civic body has installed six charging stations and has initiated the tendering process to install 25 more. "We have already installed six charging points including one at the BMC head office and have invited tenders for 25 more," Deputy Municipal Commissioner Sunil Godse, who is in charge of the environment department, said. The BMC has plans to install a total of 85 charging stations in its jurisdiction, for its vehicles.

Converting vehicles to EV

"The BMC has over 400 passenger car vehicles along with a few heavy vehicles like buses and trucks. We will convert all these vehicles into EVs step by step. We will start with cars, and for buses and other heavy vehicles we will use those that are available in the electric version," the official said. Last year, the civic body put out a tender for hiring 210 EV cars. However, due to lack of infrastructure, like charging points, it was decided to hire fossil fuel cars, said the official. "After installation of more charging points, we will hire or buy only EVs," the official said. As per the official, At the moment, BMC has only one EV, which has been hired from Energy Efficiency Services Limited, a central government undertaking.

Climate action plan

According to BMC's climate action plan, in order to reduce carbon emissions, it will use only EVs and also encourage citizens to adopt the same. The civic body also plans to install more EV charging points at multilevel public parking spaces. "We have already installed one charging point at the Dadar public parking space and the plan is to have charging points at various parking lots," the official said. "As the central and state governments are promoting EVs, we are thinking of increasing the number of charging points to encourage citizens to buy EVs," he added.

The government aims at 25 per cent electrification of public transport and converting 15 per cent of the existing fleet of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation to EVs by 2025. The state hopes to become the country's top producer of BEVs in terms of annual production capacity, set up an EV fund and form a state EV secretariat to monitor the progress of policy implementation on a day-to-day basis.

Charging points

The civic body has plans to start charging points at BEST depots, which are currently used as parking lots for citizens. The plan is at very nascent stage, an official said. "Citizens will be charged for this service. This way, the BEST will make extra revenue and citizens will be benefitted as they can avail BEST's charging points," a civic official said. "In the future, the civic body may allow citizens to use charging points installed on BMC premises too,'' he added.