In addition to the already existing seven wayside amenities (WSA) equipped with EV charging stations, the central government has provisioned for 137 more such facilities to be built on India’s national highways, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari announced on Wednesday.

“The wayside amenities are to be developed at regular intervals of 30-40 km across Brownfield National Highways and Greenfield Expressways,” Gadkari said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

“The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is developing WSA across Highways and Expressways. Presently, seven WSA facilities are equipped with EV charging stations,” he added.

The seven EV charging stations on National highways includes Kurgaon-Allahabad Bypass on NH2, Gowravaram-Andhra Pradesh on NH 16, Vallur-Andhra Pradesh on NH176, Yedehalli- Karnataka on NH40, two in Jaipur and one in Tamil Nadu.

As per data provided by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), total 43 Public Charging Stations (PCS) are currently operational on 16 National Highways across the country.

The provision of e-vehicle charging stations has been made a mandatory facility across all Wayside Amenities sites to be developed, since February 2021.