Two lithium battery units to come up in Karnataka

Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister C. N. Ashwath Narayan on Saturday announced setting up of two lithium battery manufacturing plants in Karnataka to promote e-vehicles in order to reduce air pollution.

One unit would be established in the Hubli region and the other near Chikkaballapur.

Speaking at the launch of electric vehicles as part of the Go-Green rally at Vidhana Soudha, Narayan said, "Electric Vehicles are all set to herald a new era of eco-friendly mobility. Karnataka has been leading India's charge in the sector by implementing innovative policies & boosting allied industries."

Fifty electric vehicles were flagged off on Saturday at the event.

"The State had implemented an e-vehicle policy in 2018 for the first time in the country. A discount has been given to consumers — Rs 5 per unit is being charged in the place of Rs 9 per unit which is the rate of electricity for commercial use," he said.

Remarking that the days are not far when the automobile manufacturers will manufacture vehicles without fuel tanks and batteries, he said that consumers can use the pre-charged batteries on a hiring basis. In order to facilitate this, battery tanks will be set up across the State which would work like petrol pumps.

In order to cater to the electric vehicles, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) has been made to work as the nodal agency for establishing more charging stations. It has already set up 150 charging stations and collaborated with NTPC to establish 150 more such stations.