As per Ashhok Kapoor, MD of EzUrja, the facility construction company, Thakurpukur locality of south Kolkata is set to become India’s largest single-location electric vehicle (EV) charging center.
He further stated that China has the largest facility with 650 chargers at one location, making it the world’s second-largest EV charging center with 300 chargers.
The building will be constructed on a almost two-acre area of PSU Andrew Yule & Co.’s closed factory. “This is our inaugural EV charging hub project. It is being developed for 300 vehicles of Snap-E, all-electric cab service app. The biggest single-location EV charging hub in India till date is in Gurgaon, and it has 160 charging stations,” he stated.
The estimated cost of the project is Rs 7.5 crore and likely to start functioning by August, before Durga Puja, he mentioned. “Andrew Yule has given the land on a commercial deal,” Kapoor stated.
He added that all the chargers are being made locally in EzUrja’s Himachal Pradesh facility. “The hub will include a blend of fast and slow chargers, with loads of up to 120 kwh capacity. The fast chargers will account for around 20 per cent of total,” he added.
The maximum capacity of the hub will be 6 mw, and solar panels and battery banks are being placed to render it sustainable, he added.
“We anticipate to produce around 40 per cent of the load from the microgrid that we are building at the location to provide a green and sustainable energy supply,” he added.
Mayank Bindal, CEO of Snap-E, added that this joint venture will become a benchmark to build strong e-mobility infrastructure in the nation.
EzUrja is going to build EV charging infrastructure along the 250-km Kolkata-Asansol highway as well.
It is going to set up 10 EV charging stations of 240 kwh capacity for electric buses in association with the state power department for interstate operations.
“The state power department will provide land at its substations on the highway,” Kapoor added. The company is also considering another EV charging station in Kolkata, he said.