With plans to bring the carbon footprint to the minimum possible by incorporating more and more e-vehicles, the state Transport Department is now mulling plans to set up 150 charging stations in the city and suburbs soon.
The West Bengal Transport Corporation, earlier this month, has awarded a work order to Tata Motors for deployment of 1180 electric buses under the ‘Grand Challenge’ initiative of the Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL).
As per the agreement, Tata Motors will supply the 1180 buses to the state government by the end of 2023. It will also deploy and operate the e-fleet with its own drivers and would be responsible for maintenance. For this, the state Transport Department is to pay some amount to the company.
However, for the model to work, the buses have to be run to a minimum distance of 167km daily. The routes of the buses, therefore, are to be decided accordingly to enable them to cover long distances. This would not only fulfil the criteria but would also provide good connectivity to places in the suburban areas.
For making the plan workable, an important part of the job is to set up charging stations to enable fast charging along the route of these buses. The department is, therefore, working on plans to set up charging stations at strategic points at places like Amta, Bangan, Joka, Howarah, Barasat and so on.
The charging stations, according to sources, are to be set up with the assistance of West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) in the suburbs and by CESC in the city. A part of the cost, according to sources, is to be shared by the department.